A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 27, 2007
3. Watersheds
BAY TRAIL:
Extension of the Bay Trail is set to begin; Restoration would expand marsh - San Jose Mercury News
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: How to do right by the delta; 'Fixing' the
BAY TRAIL:
Extension of the Bay Trail is set to begin; Restoration would expand marsh
By Cody Kraatz, staff writer
Federal and state agencies will soon begin converting about 15,000 acres of former Cargill Inc. salt ponds into tidal marsh and public trails, according to a plan officials unveiled on Dec. 14.
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 90 percent of that land to tidal marsh by 2050 at a total cost of about $1 billion, 60 percent of which will go toward levee construction. Plans will evolve based on the results of environmental research.
Besides restoration and preservation, the larger plan calls for increased access for hunters, hikers, bikers and birdwatchers. This first phase is expected to cost $32 million for construction and environmental studies and to continue into 2010.
"It is very important to the project that we are successful from the flood protection point of view, as well as the habitat point of view, as well as the public access point of view," said executive project manager Steven Ritchie of the state Coastal Conservancy.
The funds will come from out-of-state bond measures allocated for levee construction and wetland restoration, as well as federal monies, Ritchie said.
Locally,
The Coastal Conservancy,
"We are going to make sure we provide flood protection and in many cases improve flood protection," said Ritchie, adding that the project will likely adapt in the future to climate change expectations and possible changes in sea level and rainfall patterns.
Many parts of the
"Now with the sea level rising and everything, that could happen more frequently," said Clyde Morris, a refuge manager for the Fish and Wildlife Services in charge of the
The Army Corps of Engineers may be brought in for major levee construction down the road.
The connecting trail is part of the San Francisco Bay Trail, which is ultimately intended to ring the bay. It has been held up because of security concerns at Moffett Field.
"It's huge. So many people for so many years have been working on the Moffett gap," said Laura Thompson, Bay Trail project manager for the Association of Bay Area Governments, which approved a $63,250 grant for the trail on Dec. 13.
"For many years [the land for the trail] was owned by Cargill, so there was never an option."
Built atop a low levee, the trail will be open year-round and composed of gravel. It will be rebuilt permanently with asphalt atop a new, much higher levee in 15-20 years, officials said, estimating that it would open next spring.
The public can access the existing Bay Trail spur, which rings a
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7814626
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: How to do right by the delta; 'Fixing' the
It was easy to miss in the year-end rush to salvage healthcare and slash
Asked to "develop a durable vision for sustainable management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta," the seven-member committee considered the watershed's looming problems, among them a threatened ecosystem and a network of aging levees. These levees could collapse in the event of an earthquake, destroying farms, homes and wildlife habitat and threatening water supplies. Currently, 25 million Californians use water that flows through the delta.
The panel suggested that protecting the region's ecosystem and securing the state's water supply should be "primary, co-equal goals" in its management. In a way, this offered something for everyone. Environmentalists emphasized the worthy recommendations that water users conserve more and reduce what they take from the system. At the same time, some water users, including the Assn. of California Water Agencies, lauded the panel's determination that "new facilities for conveyance and storage ... are needed" -- in other words, that the state must consider reservoirs and a canal to store and carry water around the delta.
But the Delta Vision Task Force stressed that "the delta cannot be 'fixed' by any single action." In other words, building new dams or canals alone won't solve the problem. Nor will conservation.
Figuring out a precise balance between the two approaches has eluded
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