EPA Awards Estuary Partnership $10.6 million for Bay Area Watershed Projects

SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this summer approved a pair of grants to the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) to advance projects to protect and restore watersheds in Hayward, Richmond, San Pablo, and North Richmond. Local partners contributed matching funds to supplement the new grants, which were awarded through the EPA San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund program. Hosted by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the San Francisco Estuary Partnership is a collaboration of local, state and federal agencies; non-governmental organizations; and academic and business leaders working to protect and restore the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

"This combination of local and federal funds not only focuses on supporting projects that improve local water quality, mitigate the impacts of flooding, and strengthen climate resilience for underserved communities, but also looks at ways to expand local and regional expertise in advancing nature-based solutions. Funding for this forward-looking approach allows us to further fortify our efforts to protect and restore the San Francisco Estuary," said SFEP Director Caitlin Sweeney.

The Estuary Partnership's watershed protection and restoration projects include: 

Restoring Wildcat Creek: Community-Led Watershed Health Update and Priority Project ($12.2 million — includes $6.1 million from EPA plus $6.1 million from West County Wastewater)

The Wildcat Creek project in North Richmond and San Pablo seeks to create a watershed-scale restoration action plan, implement critically needed restoration in the lower part of the watershed, and create design plans to address critical gaps in the Wildcat Creek Trail that hinder underserved communities from accessing the bay shoreline and the extensive San Francisco Bay Trail network.

This four-year project will expand the reach of the existing Wildcat Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan (WRAP) from solely within the city of San Pablo to the entire 13-mile length of the creek, connecting multiple cities. The Re-WRAP will outline a series of restoration actions along Wildcat Creek to reduce flooding, improve habitat quality, and increase access to recreational resources. The project also includes restoring a mile of Wildcat Creek and 10 acres of adjacent habitat, improving fish passage, and stockpiling sediment removed from the system for future shoreline climate adaptation projects in North Richmond. The removal of 50,000 cubic yards of sediment from this system will result in decreased flooding risk in the low-elevation community of North Richmond.

The Estuary Partnership will lead project management, administration, reporting, and financial tracking and accounting while working in partnership with community-based organizations and public partners including The Watershed Project, Urban Tilth, Trout Unlimited, Contra Costa County Flood Control and West County Wastewater to support restoration of the creek, trail design and future construction of the North Richmond Living Levee.

"This funding offers the opportunity to not only restore and safeguard green spaces for future generations, but to continue to collaborate with regional partners including the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, to create spaces that expand nature access and lower the impact of climate change for our vulnerable communities now," said Juliana Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Watershed Project. 

Pivot Points: Moving Nature-based solutions for Water Quality Improvements and Shoreline Adaption ($9 million — includes $4.5 million from EPA plus $4.5 million in matching funds from project partners)

The Pivot Points project continues work that meets significant environmental outcomes for San Francisco Bay, including continued progress to restore 830 acres of tidal marsh, getting the First Mile Levee in Hayward to a shovel-ready state, and reducing nitrogen loads to the Bay, thereby ensuring improved habitat health, higher water quality, and protection of vulnerable East Bay communities from sea level rise.

The Pivot Points project also advances multi-benefit nature-based solutions (NBS) for a resilient shoreline by filling important gaps in taking NBS from the planning to the implementation stage. To remedy these gaps, the project will apply holistic methods that include addressing permitting barriers, establishing long-term governance and management plans, and ensuring technology transfer. The Pivot Points project will increase regional expertise of how to apply NBS to support sustainable solutions to environmental challenges while advancing the on-the-ground implementation of the First Mile Horizontal Levee. SFEP will team with the East Bay Dischargers Authority, East Bay Regional Park District, Save The Bay, the Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency and other partners.

"The Pivot Points project employs nature to protect the shoreline and communities from rising tides and storms – multi-benefit solutions to climate impacts that will benefit people and wildlife," said David Lewis, Executive Director of Save The Bay.

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership for over 30 years has worked with local communities and federal and state agencies to improve the health of California's most urbanized estuary. The San Francisco Estuary is named in the federal Clean Water Act as one of 28 "estuaries of national significance."  Millions of people, hundreds of communities, and many industries rely on the San Francisco Estuary for fresh water, recreation, agriculture and more. Thousands of wildlife species rely on the estuary for habitat.

For more information about the San Francisco Estuary Partnership and awarded projects, visit: https://www.sfestuary.org/our-programs/.

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To learn more about the Wildcat Creek project, visit: Wildcat Creek Trail Visioning Project – Urban Tilth, Wildcat-San Pablo Creeks Watershed Council.

To learn more about the First Mile project, visit: First Mile Horizontal Levee - San Francisco Estuary Partnership (sfestuary.org).

SOURCE Association of Bay Area Governments