Highlighted Projects
Sears Point Restoration Project
{OUTSTANDING CCMP IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT AWARD WINNER -- 2005} PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This 2,300-acre project site will incorporate tidal marsh restoration (950 acres), diked marsh restoration (500 acres), and riparian, vernal pool, seasonal marsh, and grassland management on the remaining hillslopes and gulches of the project site (850 acres). The site is one of the most unique properties in the San Francisco Bay Area, an undeveloped parcel extending from the bay margins to around +400 ft msl. Key design elements include new flood control levee, tidal marsh levee breaches and internal and connector channels, water control structures for diked marsh, integration of land management with cattle grazing, and public access. Initial project phases include site investigations to determine restoration and management opportunities and constraints, preparation of a Conceptual Restoration Plan (2005) and Preliminary Restoration Plan (2006), environmental compliance and permitting (2006-2007), construction plans and specifications preparation (2007), construction management (2007-2008), and post-construction monitoring (2008+). 2005 budget is $2 million for planning, with anticipated budgets for all subsequent activities, excluding construction costs, on the order of $3-4 million.
Wetlands and Water Resources is the project technical lead, overseeing restoration design and stewardship plan development and all subsequent technical activities, all working closely with Sonoma Land Trust staff.
Download reports from Sonoma Land Trust
PROJECT DURATION: 2004-present
Delta Vision
- Governor Schwarzenegger establish Delta Vision by Executive Order in September 2006 to “develop a durable vision for sustainable management of the Delta” with the goal of “... managing the Delta over the long term to restore and maintain identified functions and values that are determined to be important to the environmental quality of the Delta and the economic and social wellbeing of the people of the state.”
- Stuart Siegel serves as the technical lead the Ecosystem Work Group. This Work Group is made up of scientists from state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and water contractors. This Work Group is charged with developing a suite of recommendations for restoring the Delta's ecosystem that includes identifying desired ecosystem characteristics, indictors and performance targets for those characteristics, strategies and actions to achieve those characteristics, and prioritizing those strategies and actions
- The Delta Vision Strategic Plan will be completed in October 2008
- www.deltavision.ca.gov
- December 2007 WWR report on near-term restoration activities for the Delta
- May 2008 Presentation to the Blue Ribbon Task Force
- April 2008 Presentation to the Blue Ribbon Task Force
PROJECT DURATION: 2007-present
North Parcel-Leonard Ranch Seasonal Wetland Enhancement
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project involves the design, construction oversight, and monitoring of a 320-acre seasonal wetland enhancement project in northern San Francisco Bay on diked agricultural baylands. Wetlands and Water Resources carried out a full range of background studies, including wildlife use, wetland delineation, hydrology, topographic surveys, and soils to support engineering design and site management. Through 2003, WWR prepared a wetland design involving a comprehensive shallow groundwater management strategy, prepared an Enhancement Plan, obtained in collaboration with the client all the necessary permits for construction, and prepared engineering plans and specifications and a contractor bid package. Project construction took place in fall 2003. WWR has begun implementing a five-year monitoring program.
This project involved field investigations including installation and monitoring of shallow groundwater piezometers, installation of surface water level monitoring stations, installation of rainfall gauges, extensive topographic mapping through aerial photogrammetry and ground-based total station instruments, botanical surveys in support of wetland delineation, and wildlife surveys in support of permits. We used Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to support project design and alternatives evaluation and to evaluate watershed water supply contributions.
- Enhancement Plan
- Year 1 Monitoring Report
- Year 2 Monitoring Report
- Year 3 Monitoring Report
- Year 4 Monitoring Report
PROJECT DURATION: 1997-present
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Feasibility Analysis
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this Feasibility Analysis was to provide a starting point for evaluating all topics relevant to the purchase and restoration of some or all of the South Bay salt ponds. To achieve this purpose, the study examined the suite of biological, physical, chemical, and economic issues relevant to restoring tidal marsh on the entire 26,000-acre South Bay salt pond complex as well as the smaller 15,000-acre Cargill sale area. We then integrated these data into a pond-by-pond restoration feasibility determination and developed a set of key conclusions pertinent to undertaking acquisition and restoration. This study is providing a foundation for initiating the technical aspects of salt pond restoration planning being undertaken by the California State Coastal Conservancy.
Wetland and Water Resources carried out this entire study. WWR collected nearly 200 technical supporting documents and spoke with about 40 individuals with knowledge about the salt ponds and restoration and management issues. WWR developed a GIS database for the South Bay salt ponds, gathering data from a variety of sources and using GIS tools and these data to understand the interaction of salt pond and South Bay attributes in affecting restoration feasibility. WWR carried out quantitative analyses to evaluate sediment deficits and pond desalination and management and their implications for restoration. Finally, WWR oversaw a professional graphic designer to prepare the report in a book format and as an on-line, downloadable report.
PROJECT DURATION: 1999 to 2002
Integrated Regional Wetland Monitoring Pilot Project
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project involves a two-year field study and analytical effort to examine the role of wetland restoration on affecting ecosystem processes at different scales and to develop effective monitoring methodologies for other restoration projects. The project is a collaboration amongst a team of eight organizations - Wetlands and Water Resources, PRBO Conservation Science, San Francisco Estuary Institute, University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State University, University of Washington, U.S. Geological Survey, and Philip Williams and Associates.
Being carried out on behalf of the California Bay-Delta Authority Science Program, the project is aimed at improving our understanding of restoration and monitoring methodologies to improve the effectiveness of ecosystem restoration efforts throughout the San Francisco Estuary and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The project includes monitoring physical processes, vegetation, birds, fish, invertebrates, and primary production at six sites from the western Delta to San Pablo Bay, and landscape ecology at these six sites and extended throughout the region. WWR is the Lead Principal Investigator, lead for Physical Processes, and co-lead for Landscape Ecology.
PROJECT DURATION: 2003 to present
Petaluma River Marsh Restoration Monitoring
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project involved a broad range of physical and biological monitoring of this 45-acre tidal marsh restoration project in the northern San Francisco Estuary over a five-year period. The project used a restored tidal marsh to evaluate hydrogeomorphic and biological processes driving evolution from a subsided, diked bayland to a vegetated tidal marsh under natural sedimentation, and it documented changes at the site. Work took place under a number of contracts and grants from the Sonoma Land Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Sea Grant Program, and San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.
To address the questions established for this project, WWR pursued two avenues of data collection and several avenues of data analysis. Field data collection included field instruments that generated high-frequency time series measurements of water level, temperature, suspended sediment concentrations, and velocity; topographic surveys; vegetation surveys; and avian surveys. Remotely sensed data collection included low-altitude stereographic aerial imagery flown at 6-month to 1-year intervals that we used to generate high-resolution Digital Elevation Models and channel planform maps as the basis to evaluate temporal evolution and to develop hypsographs for analyzing sediment concentration data. From the field data we derived a variety of analytical results including tidal inundation, sediment flux, and evaluations of the effects of the February 1998 El Niño storms.
These data allowed us to make several determinations of hydrogeomorphic and biological processes influencing tidal marsh restoration evolution. We identified important effects of pilot channels and small internal berms, determined that most sediment supply occurs during monthly higher spring tides, determined that desiccation strongly influences site elevations at certain evolutionary stages, and identified appropriate data collection frequency intervals for determining project evolution.
PROJECT DURATION: 1997-present
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Dr. Stuart Siegel serves as the Suisun Marsh Science Advisor to the Suisun Marsh Charter Group. The Charter Group consists of seven local, state, and federal agencies charged with resource management and protection in the Marsh. The Charter Group is currently preparing the Suisun Marsh Habitat Management, Preservation and Restoration Plan to address longer-term management of fish and wildlife resources in Suisun Marsh. The Science Advisor role held by Dr. Siegel aims to integrate sound science into this regional planning effort through advising and reviewing throughout the process. The Science Advisor chairs a Science and Technical Advisory Panel of scientists and engineers with the breadth of expertise to address the many issues being covered within the Suisun Marsh Plan.
www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/suisunmarsh/charter
PROJECT DURATION: 2005 to present
