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South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
January 2013 Newsletter
Volume 29


Upcoming Events
and Meetings
 More events, including volunteer restoration opportunities, are listed on the Events and Meetings section of the project web site.
February 2013

The Basics of Salt Pond Restoration
Saturday, February 9
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Environmental Education Center, Alviso

Ever wonder what's going on in the South Bay -- what are they building? Join us to find out about the salt pond restoration project with Jose Garcia, park ranger at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This ambitious project seeks to restore 15,100 acres of former industrial salt ponds to a variety of habitats. Learn how this 50-year project proposes to do just that, using adaptive management. It will improve habitat for rare and endangered species, allow for nature-based education and recreation, and help in flood protection. Event includes an auditorium talk and, if weather permits, a walk on the .25-mile boardwalk trail to view the progress thus far. For questions, please contact Jose at (408) 262-5513 ext. 106.

Welcome the Year of the Snake



Saturday, February 9
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Ravenswood Ponds, Menlo Park

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward

Chinese New Year is here and it's time to celebrate the Snake! Wetlands are home to many friendly snakes including the Pacific Gopher Snake, California King Snake, and the San Francisco Garter Snake. Please join us for a Saturday planting day and help create habitat for our fine scaly friends. To register, see Welcome the Year of the Snake at Ravenswood Pond (Menlo Park) or Welcome the Year of the Snake at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Hayward/Union City).

Oliver Salt Works Hike
Sunday, February 10
9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward

Hidden among the salt ponds is one of the East Bay's most intriguing historical sites. The Refuge and the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project are sponsoring this hike to the old Oliver Salt Works. We'll be walking into an area of the Reserve not yet open to the public so please be prepared to walk two miles on unimproved levees. Reservations required. Please call 408-262-5513 ext.106.

Ravenswood Hike
Saturday, February 16
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park

The 2.3-mile perimeter trail at Bedwell Bayfront Park offers great opportunities to discover winter wildlife and to discuss how future wetlands restoration will shape this piece of the Bay. Offered by the Refuge and the Friends of Bedwell Bayfront Park. Meet at the main parking lot bathrooms at Bedwell Bayfront Park. Call 408-262-5513 x106 for information.

Keep on Planting
Saturday, February 23
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward

Carry on fair planter!! Winter rains have helped to loosen up the dirt in preparation for thousands of native seedlings just waiting for new homes by the Bay. We are getting close to completing our goal of planting 30,000 native seedlings by the end of March, but we need your help! So come on out and be part of the largest wetland restoration project on the West Coast. To register, see Keep on Planting at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Hayward/Union City)

March 2013

History of the Salt Pond Restoration Project
Saturday, March 2
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Environmental Education Center, 1751 Grand Blvd, Alviso

Attend a lecture on the illustrated history of the: who, what, when, where, why and how of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Includes a hands-on visual demonstration of how the marsh protects us from flooding. All ages welcome. Presented by Joseph Garcia. Call 408-262-5513, ext. 106 for more information.

Spring into Planting
Saturday, March 9
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward

We're celebrating longer days at Save The Bay! With the approaching time change, longer afternoons give us more time to plant native seedlings. This is exciting news to us since we are close to completing our goal of planting 30,000 native seedlings by the end of March. But we still need your help, so come on out and be part of the largest wetland restoration project on the West Coast. To register, see Spring into Planting at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Hayward/Union City).

Ides of March Planting
Saturday, March 16
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Ravenswood Ponds, Menlo Park

We are nearing the end of our planting season and the middle of March. With only two weeks left to reach our planting goal of planting 30,000 native seedlings around the Bay, we can use all the help we can get! Please join us at the Ravenswood Salt Ponds for a Saturday planting day as we close out the season. To register, see Ides of March at Ravenswood Pond (Menlo Park).

Spring Migration at a former Salt Pond
Saturday, March 16
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Ravenswood Unit (SF2,) Menlo Park

Docent Jane Moss will lead you on a one-mile walk through the ever-changing panoramas surrounding a former salt pond as the bird populations shift towards summer residents. Learn about the exciting ways these managed tidal wetlands are being reshaped as wildlife habitat. Trail is easy and level. All ages and abilities welcome. For information and reservations, please call 408-262-5513 x106.

Going Green, the Restoration of the South Bay Salt Ponds
Sunday March 17
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Environmental Education Center, Alviso

Join an interpretive walk to photograph the wildlife and wetlands in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Learn and be a part of the history of the wetland restorations. Learn how knowing the area will both increase your appreciation for it and ability to see it in a whole new way. Know what plants or animals you will see in which habitat, and at what times. Digital or film welcome. Led by Park Ranger Joseph Garcia. Call (408) 262-5513, ext. 106 for reservations.

Bird Migration Walk
Sunday March 17
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Ravenswood Unit (SF2), Menlo Park

Our wetlands are an important stop on the Pacific Flyway, a major bird migration route. Stroll with docent Laurel Stell to learn why the birds migrate, why they stop along the San Francisco Bay, and to spot the birds in action. Trail is easy and level. All ages and abilities welcome. Meet at the SF2 trail parking area on the west side of the Dumbarton Bridge. For information and directions, call 408-262-5513 ext. 106.



Springtime has Sprung
Saturday, March 23
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward

The robins are singing about the return of spring and we are ready to celebrate. Planting season is almost over and it's time to welcome back the flowers. But we still need your help to reach our goal of planting 30,000 native seedlings by the end of March, so come on out and put some spring back in your step! To register, see Springtime has Sprung at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Hayward/Union City).

April 2013

4th Annual California Poppy Day
Saturday, April 6
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Hayward

It's the fourth annual California Poppy Day at Eden Landing. We'll be planting native seedlings and removing invasive weeds as we transition from one season to the next. Participants will receive their very own packet of poppy seeds to take home, along with tips on how to plant them. To register, see 4th Annual California Poppy Day at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Hayward/Union City).

Going Green, the Restoration of the South Bay Salt Ponds
Sunday April 6
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Environmental Education Center, Alviso

Join an interpretive walk to photograph the wildlife and wetlands in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Learn and be a part of the history of the wetland restorations. Learn how knowing the area will both increase your appreciation for it and ability to see it in a whole new way. Know what plants or animals you will see in which habitat, and at what times. Digital or film welcome. Led by Park Ranger Joseph Garcia. Call (408) 262-5513, ext. 106 for reservations.

History of the Salt Pond Restoration Project
Sunday, April 14
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Environmental Education Center, 1751 Grand Blvd, Alviso

Attend a lecture on the illustrated history of the: who, what, when, where, why and how of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Includes a hands-on visual demonstration of how the marsh protects us from flooding. All ages welcome. Presented by Joseph Garcia. Call 408-262-5513, ext. 106 for more information.

The Rebirth of a Former Salt Pond - An Earth Day Gift
Saturday, April 20
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Ravenswood Unit (SF2,) Menlo Park

Docent Jane Moss will lead you on a one-mile walk through the ever-changing panoramas surrounding a former salt pond. Welcome the return of nesting shorebirds and learn about the exciting ways this area is being reshaped as wildlife habitat. Trail is easy and level. All ages and abilities welcome. For information and reservations, please call 408-262-5513 x106.



Save The Bay Earth Day
Saturday, April 20
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Ravenswood Ponds, Menlo Park

Earth Day is here and we want you to join us as we as we protect, restore, and celebrate San Francisco Bay. This year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along with their special cadre of outdoor enthusiasts will be joining us. We know you take volunteering seriously, so we have the perfect project for you. Grab your rain gear. To register, see Save The Bay Earth Day at Ravenswood Pond (Menlo Park).



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Help Us Plan for Phase 2 Actions



The Project has gathered thoughts from stakeholders on our next set of actions, and will soon launch an environmental analysis of possible new restoration and construction at Alviso and Ravenswood ponds.

We've heard from agencies, interest groups and the public at Stakeholder Forum and working group meetings since 2010. Thoughts are still welcome. The public will have another option for providing input when the draft environmental impact statement/report is completed in about 12 months. Possible projects include:

  • Tidal marsh restoration with nesting islands and improved and/or new trails at Ponds A1 and A2W near Mountain View
  • Tidal marsh restoration at Pond R4 at Ravenswood
  • Habitat enhancement of ponds R5/S5, and possible use for flood retention
  • New Ravenswood trails
  • Breaches to speed tidal marsh establishment at the Island Ponds (A19, A20) in Alviso
  • Tidal marsh restoration in Eden Landing
  • New trails and Bay Trail spine at Eden Landing
  • Bay-front "landmass" flood protection at Eden Landing (an Alameda County Flood Control District project)
  • Construction of uplands at each pond complex to serve as refuge areas for marsh and pond species
Phase 2 includes multiple tidal marsh projects, as scientists advise that starting restoration early will enhance marsh's capacity to keep pace with sea level rise. In addition, we are still gathering data to see how our Phase 1 reconfigured ponds are performing before replicating those designs at other managed ponds.



For more information, see the presentation, handouts and minutes from our Nov. 15 Stakeholder Forum/Working Groups meeting here.

Funding Picture for Bay Restoration

While the Project benefited from state, federal, foundation and local agency money to fund the $100 million cost of salt ponds acquisition as well as the additional cost of planning and Phase 1 construction, the fiscal crisis is painting a far less rosy picture for restoration in the coming decade. In the coming year, we have sufficient funding to complete the environmental analysis for Phase 2 projects at Alviso and Ravenswood. We do not yet have funding for the Eden Landing analysis, or for Phase 2 permitting, design and construction at all three pond complexes. And beyond this next year, funds will be needed to implement Phase 2 work.



However, various groups around the Bay are looking at ways to sustain Bay health, flood protection and restoration. Save The Bay launched a Greening the Bay campaign to support funding for Bay restoration and projection and is planning a renewed effort (for more information, see http://www.savesfbay.org/greening-bay). The San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, with a mandate of looking at Bay wetlands, flood protection and public access, is considering asking Bay Area voters whether they would support a $10- or $20-per-year parcel tax measure, which would require a two-thirds vote to be enacted. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Sen. Diane Feinstein have launched an effort called the San Francisco Baylands Steering Committee to engage key Bay Area thought leaders to consider wetland and flood protection issues, and how the Bay community can avoid the risk of Sandy-type damages.

We'll report back on progress as these initiatives develop.

On the Ground: Track Our Progress at the Ponds

Alviso: A Wetland Halloween Fest



On October 31, supporters of the Project and the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge joined to note the Refuge's 40th anniversary, honor those who birthed it, and unleash another 130 acres of tidal marsh restoration.

The event included a ceremony as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives announced the naming of a Refuge island in honor of Art Ogilvie, the Santa Clara County planner who conceived in the mid-1960s the idea of the nation's first urban refuge. They presented a framed map of the island to his son, Jon Ogilvie. Florence LaRiviere (a recipient last year of the National Wetlands Award) and the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge were also honored for their many years of work; Florence, Rep. Mike Honda, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Bob Wieckowski, former Fremont Mayor Gus Morrison and Jo Cazenave of then-Rep. Pete Stark's office lauded the Committee and shared stories of strategy-hatching sessions over the years at Florence and Philip LaRiviere's kitchen table.

Then vans transported the crowd to the edge of Pond A17 along Coyote Creek, to watch an earthmover gouge a hole in the pond levee and cascades of high-tide waters stormed in to the pond, creeping over the earth. The opening of Pond A17 brings us 2% closer to our goal of 7,500 acres, or 50% of our lands, opened to the Bay.

Pond A16 Nearly Complete - New Viewing Platform

Construction of 16 nesting islands and a viewing platform at Alviso Pond A16 near Alviso is expected to finish in early spring. The construction work included lowering levees at adjoining Pond A17 and leaving small portions of levee to serve as hummocks for salt marsh harvest mice to use to escape high tides.



Eden Landing: Workers Start Final Phase 1 Project

Work has started on the Project's final piece of Phase 1, with construction workers coming on board this winter to turn 230-acre Ponds E12 and E13 into a batch of ponds with various levels of saltiness, to determine how much salt our favorite shorebirds prefer on their food. This project includes an extensive trail and platform to view a historic saltworks and also a kayak launch. Workers have started by building slope protection and test islands to try out different surfaces for birds. Work is expected to finish in 2014, followed by a year of wildlife surveys before opening the new trails to the public.



Shoreline Study Alviso-Area Report Moves Forward

The draft environmental impact statement/feasibility report on the Alviso-area levee alignment and habitat restoration alternatives is expected to be completed in September. There will be opportunities for public input on the draft document. The final document is scheduled to be completed in 2014. The Shoreline Study is a Congressionally-authorized study undertaken by the US Army Corps of Engineers together with local sponsors, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the State Coastal Conservancy to identify flood risk management and habitat restoration projects that should receive federal funding.

Science Updates

  • South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project Science Symposium this summer! The event will take place on Tuesday, July 16, and will once again be at the USGS campus in Menlo Park.


  • Scientists see nature's rapid marsh-building at Pond A6. We've already noted the rapid sediment accumulation and growth of vegetation at Pond A21, at our first Island Ponds breach site in 2006. Scientists are now seeing very rapid sedimentation at Pond A6, which we opened to the Bay in late 2010. Sediment is accreting at an average rate of 23 centimeters a year (about 9 inches a year) - nearly double the rate of 13 centimeters (about 5 inches) averaged over the first three years at Pond A21. Scientist John Callaway of USF and his fellow researchers see the low starting elevation at the significantly subsided Pond A6 as a major factor in the rapid sediment buildup. Overall, sediment scientists recommend the Project undertake tidal restoration sooner rather than later, in order to take advantage of the high suspended sediment currently in the South Bay system. Doing so could give the new marshes a head start against sea level rise.
  • Update on South Bay Gulls. South Bay California gull populations have been an issue for the Restoration Project because gulls eat threatened snowy plover chicks and other shorebird chicks and eggs. In 1980, there were less than 20 breeding California gulls in the South Bay, but in recent years their numbers have been in the tens of thousands. Unfortunately, surveys by the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory show the South Bay breeding gull population increased from 37,828 in 2011 to 52,704 in 2012, with the A9/A14 colony seeing particularly rapid growth. This colony is just east of Pond A6, which was the area's colony until it was opened to Bay inundation in late 2010 as part of tidal restoration. The Don Edwards Refuge will continue hazing gulls in the coming year, to keep them from nesting at high-priority areas such as the Ravenswood and Eden Landing ponds.
  • USGS Biologist reports latest Pond SF2 waterbird observations. Stacy Moskal has been observing bird use at the islands and waters of this Ravenswood project, completed in 2010. A recent article discusses the context of her research and preliminary results. Read more...


Faces of the Restoration: Howard Shellhammer



The worth of salt marsh harvest mice?

What a wondrous experience
to sit at the edge of a salt marsh
and hold a beautiful little mouse,
small and docile, soft and shy.
Why worry about such a mouse
when markets are low and gas is high?
It matters because when species disappear
they disappear forever and we have less.
I've worked to save the marshes
and to save this little mouse
so that in the future there will be
marshes down at the edge of the bay
and in them salt marsh harvest mice,
little mice that have the right to be there
no matter how small or hidden from sight.
You'd understand if you could see one
in a salt marsh in dawn's early light.

- Howard Shellhammer
Howard Shellhammer is the "mouse man" of San Francisco Bay. A Professor Emeritus at San Jose State and senior associate at HT Harvey and Associates, he has studied the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse for more than four decades. The mouse is a key species in the salt marshes that the Restoration Project is restoring. It lives in dense stands of pickleweed, but needs to escape to upslope grasslands during very high tides. It is among the smallest rodents in the United States, about 2¾-3 inches long. The mouse is a good swimmer, can drink salt water and can live off salty plants. We recently took some of Howard's time to talk about mice and marshes. Read more...

Salt Pond Restoration in the News

A compendium of recent media coverage

  • Conservation International this year created a multimedia Ocean Health Index project, spanning the globe to discuss issues critical to the health of the world's oceans. The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration is featured in two videos discussing wetlands restoration's role in helping to sequester carbon and protect coasts from storms and floods: Carbon Video Coastal Protection Video
  • Bay Nature discusses the world of Bay sediments in its current January-March 2013 issue, including how sediments are helping to build the Project's new marshes. See this link to buy the edition.
  • A High Country News cover story on the Project and the challenges of balancing habitat for various species and managing gull predation: Article
  • For those of you who understand French, here is a YouTube link to the French TV show "Thalassa" and its episode on the salt ponds and ocean-related issues around San Francisco Bay: Video
Other Items:
  • Don Edwards Refuge Manager Eric Mruz talks about the urgency of completing Bay marsh restoration to Our Amazing Planet: Article
  • A discussion of the sea level rise threat to Silicon Valley in E&E Publishing: Article
  • The Save The Bay Blog shares a video and thoughts on our October 31 pond breach: Article
  • US Department of Interior Assistant Secretary visits the salt ponds: Article
  • NASA shares satellite images of the salt ponds on its "Visible Earth" site: Webpage
  • A BirdNote audio clip shares an avian perspective on our restoration project: Webpage
  • Our efforts at the Eden landing Ecological Reserve in the East Bay Express: Article

Ideas Sought for Santa Clara County Open Space Vision

The Santa Clara County Open Space Authority is inviting the public to share ideas and perspectives as it crafts a vision for water, wildlife and working lands. The goal is to envision how the County, in the face of population and development growth, can:

  • Safeguard local water supplies
  • Help local agriculture thrive and provide healthy food for communities
  • Protect and preserve habitat and wildlife migration corridors
  • Expand and connect the system of protected parks, open spaces and natural areas
To provide input or for more information, see www.CVW3.org.

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