Public Sector

The California Coastal Conservancy acquired 15,100 acres of former commercial salt ponds in South San Francisco Bay with the intent of restoring them to a mix of tidal marshes, mudflats, managed ponds, and other habitats. This project became the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.  Additional goals for the project were to manage floodwaters and provide the public with wildlife-oriented access and recreation opportunities.

As a key member of the early technical consulting team working on the project, H. T. Harvey & Associates addressed all ecological issues encountered during the development of alternatives for the restoration project. We analyzed biological resources impacts for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and National Environmental Policy Act, led the first phase of restoration design, and guided the project in acquiring regulatory permits. Our team also monitored the pilot levee breaching conducted for the restoration effort, developed monitoring and adaptive management plans, and incorporated appropriate public access features into the project design.

This project, the largest tidal and wetland restoration effort in the United States, had its share of challenges and complexities. The greatest challenge was trying to understand and balance the ecological tradeoffs among competing natural resources and stakeholder interests. Our team of ecological experts worked to overcome these challenges, helped develop conceptual models for the restoration design, and helped develop a comprehensive adaptive management plan and the associated monitoring.

This early work on the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project was the cornerstone of building our robust restoration ecology team, which has more than 40 years of continuous experience designing and implementing restoration projects.