San Franscisco Estuary Project - CCMP - Ch 3: Action Plan

CCMP MISSION STATEMENTS

Restore and protect a diverse, balanced, and healthy population of fish, invertebrates, wildlife, plants, and their habitats, focusing on indigenous species.
Assure that the beneficial uses of the Bay and Delta are protected.
Improve water quality, where possible, by eliminating and preventing pollution at its source, while minimizing the discharge of pollutants from point and nonpoint sources and remediating existing pollution.
Manage dredging and waterway modifications to minimize adverse environmental impacts.
Effectively manage and coordinate land and water use to achieve the goals of the Estuary Project.
Increase public knowledge about the Estuary ecosystem and public involvement in the restoration and protection of the health of the Estuary.
Increase our scientific understanding of the Estuary and use that knowledge to better manage the Estuary.
Develop and expand non-regulatory programs, such as public-private partnerships and market incentives, in conjunction with regulatory programs, to achieve the goals of the Project.
Preserve and restore wetlands to provide habitat for wildlife, improve water quality, and protect against flooding.
Assure an adequate freshwater flow as one of the essential components to restore and maintain a clean, healthy, and diverse Estuary.

CCMP PROGRAM AREA DEVELOPMENT
The CCMP mission statements acknowledge the need to reduce the level of adverse physical, chemical, and biological impacts occurring today, rather than pay the higher costs of addressing them in the future. Further, these statements emphasize the need to develop a framework for alliances among various levels of government and the public and private sectors to effect positive change in the Estuary.

In November of 1991, the Management Committee received a Working Draft of the CCMP. The Working Draft contained a combination of staff and subcommittee recommendations for managing the Estuary. The Management Committee then met over a period of seven months (January through July of 1992) to evaluate the proposed actions and develop a Public Draft CCMP, which was released in August of 1992.

The Public Draft was widely circulated to all interested parties. During September, nine public hearings were held to solicit comments at various locations throughout the Bay-Delta region. The hearings attracted over one hundred individuals, and over 250 written and verbal comments were received. The Estuary Project staff compiled the public comments and presented the summarized data to the Management Committee for its review and consideration in finalizing the CCMP.

The Management Committee made final revisions to all program areas in October and November of 1992, excluding the Aquatic Resources Program, which was still under development. A revised, detailed draft Aquatic Resources Program was released for public comment in February of 1993. The Management Committee will consider the Aquatic Resources Program for adoption at its March 31, 1993, meeting.

The Management Committee reached consensus on all programs except the Wetlands Management Program, which was approved by vote. Those members whose opinions are not reflected in the majority opinion submitted a one-page minority report, which is found immediately following the Wetlands Management Program. A majority report is included with the minority report to describe the intent of the approved program area.

ACTION PLAN FORMAT
The Action Plan format was developed to ease comprehension while complying with requirements set out in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency manual, Content Requirements and Approval Process For National Estuary Program Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans.

The format consists of:
I. Goals
II. Problem Statement
III. Management Structure
IV. Recommended Approach
V. Objectives and Actions

Actions include components that identify who: the responsible entity(ies); what: description of the activity; when: proposed time frame; and cost estimates.

COSTS
To derive costs for CCMP actions, two methods were employed: 1) SFEP staff surveyed state and federal agencies to determine their respective costs for each action; and 2) SFEP subcommittees, with the help of local, state, and federal agency personnel, estimated the costs of actions in the Aquatic Resources, Dredging and Waterway Modification, and Public Involvement and Education Programs.

Only those costs associated with state and federal agency costs are listed in the CCMP. Costs to local agencies, local governments, and private entities were not determined. Costs to state and federal agencies were derived by totaling contract dollar costs and staff time. In cases where the state is acting as a contractor for the federal government or where one state agency is contracting with another agency, only the original allocation of resources is counted to avoid double counting.

All costs represent twenty-year totals. Therefore, for annual programs, the yearly cost was multiplied by twenty to determine a total cost figure. For programs that will last for fewer than twenty years, the cost shown represents the full cost of carrying out the program.

The total estimated cost for each of the program areas is as follows:
Wildlife: $442,995,000
Wetlands Management: $407,021,000
Water Use: $86,211,000
Pollution Prevention and Reduction: $224,112,000
Dredging and Waterway Modification: $24,172,000
Land Use: $38,378,000
Public Involvement and Education: $59,450,000
Research and Monitoring: $306,470,000

Total (excluding Aquatic Resources): $1,588,809,000

For additional costing details, please refer to the separate SFEP document, Preliminary Implementation Strategy.

PROGRAM FORMAT
Actions have been organized into components that differ slightly from the five management issues originally identified by the Management Conference. The nine program areas better accommodate the number and variety of actions suggested and eliminate overlap within the management issues.

The concept for the new categories was derived from the diagram in Figure 1, which shows the interrelationship among estuarine resources, impacts on these resources, and the decision-making entities. At the center of the diagram are the aquatic and wildlife resources and their adjoining habitats. The important aquatic and wildlife habitats include wetlands, riparian habitats, rivers, and streams.

The second level of the diagram identifies the physical, chemical, and biological elements that affect aquatic and wildlife resources and their habitats. Activities affecting fish and wildlife are human-induced water use, pollution, dredging and waterway modification, and land use.

The third level (the outer ring) illustrates social and regulatory structures that influence the physical, chemical, and biological systems in the Estuary. Governmental regulations and management, the public's involvement and basic knowledge, scientific and technical knowledge, and the methods by which private businesses, groups, and individuals perform their activities are factors that influence how water is used, how much pollution is produced and managed, where dredging should be conducted, and how land will be developed.

FIGURE 1: The Estuary and its Management

The following Programs were developed to organize the actions and correspond to the various levels of the Estuary diagram:

Center of the Circle:
Aquatic Resources
Wildlife Resources
Wetland Habitats

Second Circle:
Water Use Program
Pollution Prevention and Reduction Program
Dredging and Waterway Modification
Land Use

Third Circle:
Public Involvement and Education
Research and Monitoring Program