Resilient Landscape Vision for Lower Walnut Creek: Baseline Information and Management Strategies

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | November 1st, 2016

Lower Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County, CA) and its surrounding landscape have undergone considerable land reclamation and development since the mid-nineteenth century.

Lower Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County, CA) and its surrounding landscape have undergone considerable land reclamation and development since the mid-nineteenth century. In 1965, the lower 22 miles of Walnut Creek and the lower reaches of major tributaries were converted to flood control channels to protect the surrounding developed land. In the recent past, sediment was periodically removed from the lower Walnut Creek Flood Control Channel to provide flow capacity and necessary flood protection. Due to the wildlife impacts and costs associated with this practice, the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (District) is now seeking a new channel management approach that works with natural processes and benefits people and wildlife in a cost-effective manner. Flood Control 2.0 project scientists and a Regional Science Advisory Team (RSAT) worked with the District to develop a long-term management Vision for lower Walnut Creek that could result in a multi-benefit landscape that restores lost habitat and is resilient under a changing climate. 

Resilient Landscape Vision for the Calabazas Creek, San Tomas Aquino Creek, and Pond A8 Area: Bayland-Creek Reconnection Opportunities

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | May 1st, 2018

This report proposes a multi-faceted redesign of the South San Francisco Bay shoreline at the interface with Calabazas and San Tomas Aquino creeks. Recognizing the opport

This report proposes a multi-faceted redesign of the South San Francisco Bay shoreline at the interface with Calabazas and San Tomas Aquino creeks. Recognizing the opportunities presented by changing land use and new challenges, such as accelerated sea-level rise, we explore in this report a reconfigured shoreline that could improve ecosystem health and resilience, reduce maintenance costs, and protect surrounding infrastructure. 

Resilient Landscape Vision for Upper Penitencia Creek

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | January 1st, 2019

This report proposes a new multi-benefit approach to flood management along Upper Penitencia Creek. Recognizing the creek’s complex history, land use, and challenges, t

This report proposes a new multi-benefit approach to flood management along Upper Penitencia Creek. Recognizing the creek’s complex history, land use, and challenges, this report explores a suite of actions that could help meet flood management objectives while improving ecosystem functioning, expanding recreational opportunities, and supporting water supply needs. 

Restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley and San Francisco’s Water Supply

Restore Hetch Hetchy | February 10th, 2016

Q: After restoration, where will San Francisco gets is water? A: From the Tuolumne River, just as it does now. This report addresses only the most commonly asked ques

Q: After restoration, where will San Francisco gets is water? A: From the Tuolumne River, just as it does now. This report addresses only the most commonly asked question by restoration skeptics: Where would the water come from? Restoration would also require increased water treatment costs and replacement of about 350 gigawatt-hours per year of hydropower production – issues not addressed herein.

Restoration Vision for the Laguna de Santa Rosa

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | April 1st, 2020

The Laguna de Santa Rosa, located in the Russian River watershed in Sonoma County, CA, is an expansive freshwater wetland complex that hosts a rich diversity of plant a

The Laguna de Santa Rosa, located in the Russian River watershed in Sonoma County, CA, is an expansive freshwater wetland complex that hosts a rich diversity of plant and wildlife species, many of which are federally or state listed as threatened, endangered, or species of special concern. The Laguna is also home to a thriving agricultural community that depends on the land for its livelihood. Since the mid-19th century, development within the Laguna and its surrounding watershed have had a considerable impact on the landscape, affecting both wildlife and people. Compared to predevelopment conditions, the Laguna currently experiences increased stormwater runoff and flooding, increased delivery and accumulation of fine sediment and nutrients, spread of problematic invasive species, and decreased habitat for native fish and wildlife species. Predicted changes in future precipitation patterns and summertime air temperatures, combined with expanding development pressure, could exacerbate these problems. People who manage land and regulate land management decisions in and around the Laguna, including landowners; federal, state, and local agencies; and local stakeholders, are seeking a long-term management approach for the Laguna that improves conditions for the wildlife and people that call the Laguna home. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Sonoma Water funded the Laguna-Mark West Creek Watershed Master Restoration Planning Project to develop such a management approach, focusing on the need to identify restoration and management actions that enhance desired ecological functions of the Laguna, while also supporting the area’s agriculture and its local residents.

Restoring Habitat with Science and Society in Mind

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | April 8th, 2014

This Issue Paper, authored by Jessica Davenport, the Council's Program Manager for Ecosystem Restoration and Land Use, is entitled Restoring Habitat with Science and Soci

This Issue Paper, authored by Jessica Davenport, the Council's Program Manager for Ecosystem Restoration and Land Use, is entitled Restoring Habitat with Science and Society in Mind.  The purpose of the 22-page paper is to survey restoration activities in the Delta; describe the needs, progress and opportunities related to restoration; and propose key areas of focus for the Delta Stewardship Council and other agencies to advance habitat restoration. Some of the areas of focus for Council staff for the next two years include: Continue to provide early consultation on habitat restoration projects that are Covered Actions under the Delta Plan in order to advise project proponents on using best available science and adaptive management and avoiding or reducing conflicts with existing uses, where feasible. Report on habitat performance measures by December 2014 and again in December 2015. Work with others to complete at least one of the landscape-scale conceptual models and associated landscape habitat metrics for the priority habitat restoration areas. Enagage Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee members in discussions of challenges and potential solutions related to land acquistion and permit coordination.

Rethinking Management of the Colorado River through Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, and Lake Mead

Utah State University | November 15th, 2024

Reversal in estuarine sand supply driven by Holocene sea level rise: A model for sand transport in large structural estuaries, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Elsevier | July 26th, 2024

Coastal sand supply is a critical component of shoreline stability in the face of modern threats to coastal zones such as sea level rise or anthropogenic sediment extract

Coastal sand supply is a critical component of shoreline stability in the face of modern threats to coastal zones such as sea level rise or anthropogenic sediment extraction. Understanding the natural and anthropogenically perturbed dynamics of coastal systems has become a pressing challenge for coastal communities, such as the San Francisco Bay area in the United Sates, a large structurally controlled estuary system where stakeholders seek to balance the extraction of coastal sand resources for economic use and ensure sufficient sand supply for sustaining natural coastal environments. Developing accurate and comprehensive models of sand inputs and transport pathways in different types of coastal systems is imperative to balancing these competing needs. While estuarine sediment transport has been well-studied in many systems globally, structurally controlled estuaries in tectonically active settings have received relatively less attention. The prevailing hypothesis for sediment transport through San Francisco Bay describes active input and transport of sand from a large integrated regional catchment, through multiple subembayments, and out to Pacific coast beaches; a model contrary to prevailing understanding of highstand estuarine sediment transport in most settings. We test this model by applying comprehensive sand provenance analysis to surface and near-surface sand deposits in and around San Francisco Bay coupled with sand residence time data from optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. New provenance results include sand petrography modal abundances, bulk geochemistry, and U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology from 27 Holocene samples throughout the San Francisco Bay region. Collectively, these new results highlight marked sediment provenance and residence time differences between San Francisco Bay structural subembayments. In particular, distinct compositional differences and OSL ages exist between sand in the bayhead region of the estuary (OSL ages ca. 4 ka; Sacramento River/local provenance) and sand from the more distal bay regions and the Pacific coast (OSL ages ca. 1 ka; integrated Sierra Nevada provenance). These provenance differences better support a revised sand input and transport model with disconnected depocenters across three structurally restricted subembayments from bayhead to the Pacific coast. New data suggest that at present the bayhead region receives limited supply from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta drainage with subsidiary supply from local circum-bay drainages. Sand deposited in the region from the Pacific coast through the inlet (Golden Gate) and into the estuary consists of a combination of tidal winnowing and reworking of “relic” sand from lowstand periods combined with sand eroded from Pacific coast sea cliffs, and sand supply from local Coast Range drainages. These results suggest that sand is likely not transported directly to the Pacific coast from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under modern conditions. Moreover, it is likely that structural constrictions between the main estuary and outer coast and between estuary subembayments cause abrupt cessation of sediment input from the main regional drainage during marine flooding, a feature likely common to large structurally controlled estuaries globally. This revised model for San Francisco Bay sand transport illustrates the need for research targeted at interpreting natural sand transport pathways in coastal systems where coarse sediment supply is a sustainability concern.

RipZET: Documentation of Tool Demonstration in Marin County

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | March 31st, 2015

The San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center (SFEI‐ASC) has developed the Riparian Zone Estimation Tool (RipZET) to help the California community of

The San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center (SFEI‐ASC) has developed the Riparian Zone Estimation Tool (RipZET) to help the California community of riparian interests visualize and characterize riparian areas as habitat unto themselves as well as their capacity to function as buffers for protecting the ecosystem services of the state’s streams, lakes and wetlands. RipZET is a tool used with Geographic Information System (GIS) and spreadsheet software to estimate “functional riparian width,” or the width associated with different riparian functions (e.g., large woody debris input, shading, floodwater storage), which varies with channel type and watershed location. The concept of functional riparian width is central to the riparian definition recommended by the National Research Council (NRC 2002) and is integral in many recently developed riparian design and management guidelines around the country.

Sacramento Valley Salmon Resiliency Strategy June 2017

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | June 2nd, 2017

The Sacramento Valley Salmon Resiliency Strategy (Strategy) is a science-based document that has been prepared by the State of California (State) to address specific near

The Sacramento Valley Salmon Resiliency Strategy (Strategy) is a science-based document that has been prepared by the State of California (State) to address specific near- and long-term needs of Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon (winter-run), Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon (spring-run), and California Central Valley steelhead (steelhead). The Strategy mirrors the approach taken with the Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy developed by the State in 2016: science-driven, focused, and designed to provide resource agencies, the public, Congress, and the California State Legislature with information critical to collaborative approaches to species resiliency. The Strategy relies heavily on the National Marine Fisheries Service Final Recovery Plan for winter-run, spring-run, and steelhead (NMFS 2014), and is guided by conceptual models of factors driving winter-run population dynamics at key life stages developed by the salmon and sturgeon assessment of indicators by life-stage (SAIL) teams (Johnson et al. 2016; Heublein et al. 2017). The actions are also supported, where indicated, by other salmonid recovery planning documents and efforts. The Strategy is an aggressive approach to improving species viability and resiliency by implementing specific habitat restoration actions. The State will take leadership roles in each action, although in all cases federal and local agency leadership, coordination, and partnerships are required for success. Recent successful restoration efforts led by local agencies and landowners demonstrate the importance and value of these collaborative partnerships. State agencies that could implement this Strategy include the California Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will be a primary partner in many of the actions. In many cases, included actions will benefit an array of aquatic and terrestrial species. Coordination and alignment across various resource management agencies will ensure achievement of maximum public benefit. All of the actions will comply with applicable laws including the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), California Endangered Species Act, California Environmental Quality Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the federal Clean Water Act.