The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is the largest tidal wetland restoration on the West Coast of the United States. In 2003, State and Federal agencies acquired 15,100 acres of former salt ponds in South San Francisco Bay, providing the opportunity for regional wetland restoration integrated with flood management and public access improvements. PWA is the lead provider of environmental and engineering services for the project. PWA and the project management team are working closely with the partner agency staff, and are engaging trustee and regulatory agencies, local governments, NGOs, and the public to produce a scientifically-sound, widely-supported plan for implementation. The project has been fast tracked, with the first phase of project implementation, consisting of six separate restoration actions totaling 2800 acres, beginning just five years after land acquisition. The project will be implemented in phases over several decades.

Long-term Restoration and Adaptive Management Plan

PWA worked with the Project Management Team to develop a long-term plan for habitat restoration, flood management, and public access based on extensive public input and scientific review. The plan provides a long-term vision for achieving the project objectives incorporating ongoing monitoring and adaptive management. A central planning issue was identifying the optimal balance of restored tidal marsh and managed pond habitat. PWA assisted the Project Management and Science Teams in developing an adaptive management plan for phased implementation of tidal marsh restoration and managed pond enhancements, with monitoring and reassessment of progress towards achieving recovery of tidal marsh-dependent species and maintaining habitat functions for migratory shorebirds within the remaining managed ponds.

PWA addressed planning for all technical areas, including:

• Biology: the plan enhances existing shorebird foraging and nesting, restores habitat for endangered marsh species, and manages for invasives
• Flood Management: the plan includes conceptual design for a system of shoreline levees to improve fluvial and coastal flood protection
• Bay Hydrodynamics: Baywide 2-D hydrodynamic and salinity transport modeling was conducted to inform project phasing and design
• Water Quality: the project is designed and must be managed to avoid the problems of low dissolved oxygen, high salinity, and mercury methylization
• Public Access: the plan will complete significant portions of the Bay Trail and offer a range of other high-quality public access opportunities

NEPA/CEQA Environmental Review and Project Permitting

The PWA team completed NEPA/CEQA environmental review and assisted the project sponsors in obtaining the required federal, state, and local permits for the long-term plan and for Phase 1 implementation. PWA coordinated with the agencies early-on to avoid unexpected delays in a rapid permitting schedule.

PWA completed preliminary engineering designs for all six Phase 1 actions (totaling 2,800 acres) and is developing final design and construction documents for four of the Phase 1 actions.

• Eden Landing Ecological Reserve tidal wetland restoration (730 acres): consists of phased (multi-year) construction of levee breaches to restore tidal flows, tidal channels to accelerate habitat development, and new levees and water control structures to maintain protection and management of adjacent ponds.
• Eden Landing Ecological Reserve managed wetland restoration (630 acres): consists of new berms, water control structures, and operations to create a series of high-salinity, shallow open water ponds for shorebird nesting and foraging.
• Alviso Pond A8 restoration (1,400 acres) in the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge: implements an adjustable flashboard-weir to restore tidal flows to three ponds, maintains or improves flood protection to adjacent urban areas, and sustainably improves recreational boating.
• Alviso Pond A16 restoration in the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge (240 acres): consists of new islands, berms, water control structures, and operations to create nesting and shallow water foraging habitat for shorebirds.

All four actions are designed as adaptive management experiments to inform the design and progress of future restoration phases.