San Franscisco Estuary Project - CCMP

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity,
stability, and beauty of the biotic community.
It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949

The San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary is a rich and treasured resource. The Bay-Delta region, which provided a home for the early Native Americans and sparked the imagination of Jack London, is today the center of one of the World's strongest economic areas. The biological diversity of the area is matched only by its economic diversity, which supports a thriving tourist trade alongside major shipping and industrial facilities. The rich ecology and enduring economy ensure the San Francisco Estuary's national and international importance.

The Importance of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

An Ecological Treasure
The San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary is the largest estuarine system on the West Coast of the United States. It drains over 40 percent of California's land and includes the waters of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The Estuary is an immensely productive ecosystem that supports a diverse community of plant, animal, and aquatic life. Half of the birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway use the Estuary's wetlands for wintering. Pintails, canvasbacks, widgeons, and other waterfowl breed here. In certain seasons, the Estuary's mudflats and saltflats support more than one million shorebirds.

In addition to providing fisheries and wildlife habitat, wetlands improve water quality by filtering pollutants. They also protect urban and agricultural areas from flooding. However, today only 44,371 acres of historical tidal wetlands remain in the Estuary. Approximately 92 percent of the Estuary's historical tidal wetlands have been filled, diked, or developed.

Over 130 fish species live in the Estuary. Hundreds of thousands of native and hatchery-bred salmon, including four separate runs of Chinook salmon, migrate through Bay-Delta waters. Historically, more than half a million Chinook salmon returned each year from the ocean to spawn in the Estuary. Today, the number is drastically lower, and the winter-run salmon is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The number of striped bass, a highly prized sport fish, has decreased from between three and four million in the 1960s to just over half a million today. Its population is maintained primarily from hatchery stocks.

Economic Importance
Northern California's economy is one of the strongest in the United States. In 1990, the gross regional product for the nine Bay Area counties alone was estimated at $168 billion. Over three million people were employed in this region.

The Estuary region's economy is based on a variety of industries ranging from petroleum production and refining in the East Bay to nationally important high-tech computer development in the South Bay. Many of these industries rely directly or indirectly on the Estuary's natural resources.

Manufacturing provides 600,000 jobs in the twelve-county Bay-Delta region. Manufacturing depends on a plentiful, high-quality water supply, available wastewater facilities, and adjacent transportation systems, such as railways, highways,and ports. An important contributor to the area's economic position is the construction industry, which supplies homes for millions of the Estuary's inhabitants and jobs for 209,000 people.

Over 3,500 commercial vessels enter the San Francisco Bay each year, making the shipping industry one of the largest on the West Coast. In 1989, the six major Estuary ports handled over twenty-three million tons of cargo (excluding liquid bulk). Industry sources indicate that, in 1985, over 45,000 jobs were supported by shipping, generating $3 billion in gross sales transactions.

Agriculture is one of the most resource-dependent of all the businesses operating within the Estuary region. It employs over 51,000 people. Agriculture requires land for production and water for crop irrigation. California agriculture generates an estimated $18 billion a year and an estimated $3.5 billion in the twelve Bay-Delta counties. It is also responsible for ll percent of the total U.S. agricultural production annually and over 50 percent of the total U.S. vegetable production annually.

The Estuary's natural resources and scenic beauty contribute to the region's significant tourist industry. In l990, visitors to San Francisco spent $3.9 billion on tourist-related activities, supporting 66,000 jobs.

Commercial and sport fishing depend directly on the Estuary's natural resource base. The commercial salmon fishery generated almost $42 million in landings prices in 1988. Sport fishing, including both charter and individual angler activities, generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues annually.

The estuary provides opportunities for swimming, water skiing, fishing, sailing, and boating at over 290 shoreline recreational areas and three hundred marinas. Recreational boating contributes to the economy of the region through berth rents, fees, and equipment sales.

The abundance of migratory waterfowl and corresponding recreational hunting activities make another contribution to the region's economy. The Estuary is responsible for approximately one-fourth of California's waterfowl harvest. Over two hundred private hunting clubs operate in Suisun Marsh and the Delta. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, duck hunters spent $127 million in the state, while federal duck stamp sales in California generated over $800,000 for land acquisition in 1989.

The Economic-Environmental Link
Although economic development and environmental protection are sometimes seen as conflicting goals, activities can be managed to benefit both.

Salmon, striped bass, and other important Estuary fish need cool, clean water and habitat for spawning and good flows during the spring for out-migration. Agriculture requires an abundant supply of water to plant spring crops. Millions of out-migrating fish are entrained in the powerful water project pumps that divert water to farmlands. If water exports were decreased from March through mid-June and pumping and storage increased in other months, sufficient water would be available to protect young salmon and striped bass and still provide for irrigation and urban needs.

Water conservation by agricultural and urban users benefits everyone Basic water conservation can decrease the cost of water to consumers, defray the cost of expensive water projects, and provide needed in stream flows for fish and wildlife. Thus, resource-dependent businesses, such as commercial and sport fishing and waterfowl hunting, can benefit economically. Through water-transfer systems, farmers can benefit from water conservation measures they implement by selling their conserved water to other water users.

Industrial processing produces pollutant by-products that can be hazardous to biological resources and human health. Economic incentives can encourage industry to undertake voluntary source reduction measures to decrease the use of hazardous materials. This often results in the added benefit of reducing industry's cost of doing business. These measures also can reduce the level and cost of regulatory monitoring and free revenue to address other pollutant threats to the Estuary.

To maintain shipping lanes and marinas within the Estuary, dredging is essential. However, disposal of contaminated sediments can pose health hazards to aquatic life. Clean dredged materials, if used to stabilize levees and create new wetland areas, can provide benefits to both economic and environmental interests.

The adoption of actions that protect and restore the ecological resources of the Estuary, while providing the needed incentives and assurances of economic benefits, is fundamental to long-term effective change in the Estuary. The San Francisco Estuary Project attempts to link environmental protection and economic viability in developing effective management goals and actions. A healthy Estuary supports a healthy economy.

Addressing the Estuary's Importance

The National Estuary Program
In l987, the United States Congress created the National Estuary Program in response to growing public concern over the decline of the nation's estuaries. The program's purpose is to protect and improve the water quality and natural resources of estuaries throughout the country by addressing the environmental problems specific to each.

As directed by Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, representatives of each estuary in the National Estuary Program must develop a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The Plan must contain recommended actions to restore and maintain water quality; maintain a balanced indigenous population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife; allow recreational activities in the estuary; and protect the beneficial uses of the estuary.

The National Estuary Program also recognizes the need for coordinated and comprehensive planning to address the problems facing estuaries. Estuaries and their surrounding regions often encompass many diverse political, governmental, and economic entities that use the resources. Each estuary has environmental and socioeconomic concerns that call for the development of unique, locally focused CCMPs. Through the National Estuary Program, local users, regulators, and public interest groups develop an estuary-specific CCMP, thus at the same time developing the political will needed to implement the plan.

The San Francisco Estuary Project
In 1987, the U.S. EPA established the San Francisco Estuary Project (SFEP) as part of the National Estuary Program. SFEP has received federal appropriations under the Clean Water Act and matching funds from the State of California. The Project is jointly sponsored by the U.S. EPA and the State of California, which is represented by the State Water Resources Control Board, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

SFEP is a cooperative program designed to promote effective management of the San Francisco Estuary and to restore and maintain its water quality and natural resources. For the first time, the Project brought together various Estuary user groups from the public and private sectors and all levels of government, including elected officials from the twelve Bay-Delta counties, to address the Estuary's critical environmental problems. This working partnership worked to develop a CCMP to address these problems, following specific schedules, actions, and commitments determined by Project members.

Geographic Scope
SFEP defines the Estuary as the waters of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Project boundaries include these waters, their watersheds, and lands in the Delta as delineated by Section 12220 of the State Water Code. In this CCMP, the term "Estuary" denotes the land and water within the watershed of three bays and the Delta.

Under Section 320 (CWA), SFEP has authority to assess problems and develop corrective recommendations for activities occurring within the "estuary zone," which is defined as extending to the upstream reach of tidal influence or the historical limit of anadromous fish runs, whichever is greater. The Estuary zone extends well into the upper reaches of streams in Northern California and the Central Valley, where fish such as salmon and steelhead trout have historically spawned. The Estuary Project has developed recommendations and corrective actions for the entire Estuary watershed.

SFEP Management Conference Structure and Participants

The structure of the Management Conference, including the purpose, membership, time frame, approval of implementation plans, and authorization of appropriations, is defined in Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. Over one hundred participants representing diverse environmental, social, and economic interests and all levels of government serve on one or more of the Project's committees.

The Sponsoring Agency Committee directed the Project's overall policy. The Management Committee served as the primary decision-making body for SFEP. It approved Project activities and budgets and oversaw development of the CCMP. Serving under the Management Committee were the Technical and Public Advisory Committees. Both committees evaluated Project products and made recommendations to the Management Committee.

Subcommittees, comprised of members of the Management Committee, Public Advisory Committee, Technical Advisory Committee, and members of the public, assisted in the development of Status and Trends Reports for each program area, including Dredging and Waterway Modification, Pollutants, Wetlands, Wildlife, Aquatic Resources, Land Use and Population, Land Use Effects, and Regulatory Management. These technical documents form the foundation for the actions recommended in the CCMP. Technical reports and public education materials produced by SFEP are listed on the inside back cover.

San Francisco Estuary Project Goals
In 1987, the Management Committee developed the following goals to provide direction and purpose for the Project:

1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of environmental and public health values attributable to the Bay and Delta and how these values interact with social and economic factors.

2. Achieve effective, united, and ongoing management of the Bay and Delta.

3. Develop a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Bay and Delta, including restoration and maintenance of water quality; a balanced indigenous population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife; and recreation activities in the Bay and Delta; and assure that the beneficial uses of the Bay and Delta are protected.

4. Recommend priority corrective actions and compliance schedules addressing point and nonpoint sources of pollution. These recommendations will include short- and long-term components based on the scientific information available.

Project participants also identified five primary management issues that require attention in the CCMP because of their impacts on the Bay and Delta. These issues, which became the basis for the program areas of the CCMP, are:

Intensified Land Use
Decline of Biological Resources
Freshwater Diversion and Altered Flow Regime
Increased Pollutants
Dredging and Waterway Modification

Status and Trends Reports for each of these management issues summarize the current level of understanding. The State of the Estuary Report, written for SFEP and published in 1992, summarizes data in the technical reports and other documents and presents the information in a comprehensible format for the general public.

Development of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan

CCMP development was based on technical data, subcommittee discussions, and consensus-building negotiations among the entire Management Committee. When the Management Committee could not reach consensus on a particular goal or action, voting was used. However, most CCMP actions were reached by consensus.

Five-Stage Development of the CCMP
The Management Committee developed the CCMP in five stages:

1. Subcommittees developed Status and Trends Reports, which detailed the current state of the resource and presented management recommendations.

2. Writing teams, comprised of subcommittee members and staff, refined the management recommendations and produced a working CCMP, which was presented to the Management Committee in November, 1991.

3. The Management Committee met frequently during the first seven months of 1992 for facilitated, consensus-building discussions to refine and adopt the management recommendations presented in the working CCMP. A Draft CCMP was released for public comment in August, 1992.

4. The Management Committee incorporated public comments on the Draft CCMP and finalized unfinished sections of the CCMP (the Aquatic Resources Program, implementation, and costing).

Next Page
CCMP Main Page| SFEP's Main Page|

Appendices
References| Glossary| Clean Water Act| Gaps in Knowledge| San Francisco Estuary Project Staff

Pages 38-42