Estuary News launched in November 1992, and for the first few decades focused on key policy and environmental issues for San Francisco Bay and the Delta. For many years it published bimonthly as an eight-page newsletter before it evolved into a magazine and added a digital platform in 2014. This pre-2014 archive includes almost 50 PDFs from that historic period (a few issues appear with odd formatting but the text is correct).
This special issue of ESTUARY News magazine celebrates the CCMP’s 20th anniversary. Like the black skimmer (Rynchops niger) that frequents San Francisco Bay, it barely breaks the surface of the myriad activities that have either grown out of the CCMP, or contributed to its implementation. Even just a snapshot review suggests that almost 600 projects, undertaken by diverse partners, have implemented the CCMP in some way or another in the last 20 years. Featured stories: The CCMP: Long Story Short By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto Fish Down Invasions Up, Flooding Soon By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto A Giant Step from Species to Landscapes By Joe Eaton Keep It Out or Clean It Up By Robin Meadows From Bay Mud to Building Material, From Lockdown to Smooth Sailing By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto Thinking Like a Region, No Walk in the Park By Joe Eaton More Efficiencies, But Not More Water By Aleta George Getting People On the Bandwagon By Joe Eaton
Paddling the Bay’s water trail, restoring Florida’s Kissimmee River, currents versus catamarans in San Francisco Bay, and Back to the Future for the Habitat Goals. Featured stories: Everglades Ease into Restoration By Susan Zakin Cap and Trade Roadshow, Six Months Later By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto Interview with Letitia Grenier: Back to the Future for Habitat Goals By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto
Sustaining a living estuary like San Francisco Bay is no cakewalk. You’ve got to sidestep through unpredictable things like invasive clams, seasonal flows, climate change, and restoration budgets. And you’ve got to power through the twists and turns of politics and land use debates. The prize might not be as obvious as a lupine in the spring sunlight. But it sure beats sitting out the last dance… Featured stories: Clams Muddle Delta Restoration by Robin Meadows Way-Cool Observatory by Ariel Rubissow Okamoto The Laid Back Levee by Joe Eaton Wet Feet for Silicon Valley? by Susan K. Moffat Slow it, Save it, Sink it by Daniel McGlynn How Wild Should Drakes Estero Be? By Jacoba Charles
On the Left Coast, extreme tides are wetting our feet and teasing our brains with glimpses of a flooded future. Climate change is on a roll, and with it the prospect of accelerating sea level rise, and estuary scientists and managers are hustling to adapt. Special Insert: California Landscape Conservation Cooperative Featured stories: Interview with Jeremy Lowe: A Head Start on Rising Seas Act & Adapt – A Tall Order for a Region by Nate Seltenrich Acid Waters Soften Shells by Joe Eaton Saving Homes from Swollen Creek by Susan K. Moffat Managed Retreat by Joe Eaton Creating science-based tools for on-the-ground climate planning and adaptation…
Investigating the Delta’s historical ecology; preventing PCBs in caulk from entering runoff after building demolition; restoring Cullinan Ranch on the San Pablo Bay Wildlife Refuge; and managing drainage from seasonal wetlands in Suisun Marsh, which contain too much mercury and too little oxygen. Also, Japanese tsunami debris arrives on West Coast; two top scientists review key lessons from four decades of Bay ecosystem research; the Mokelumne River Crest to Coast Trail; and a Bay-Delta science conference town hall on how scientists and policymakers can better communicate. Special Insert: Flame Retardants in San Francisco Bay, Regional Monitoring Program Fall 2012 Update
Debating shipboard V shoreside ballast water treatment regulations for California to prevent aquatic invasions; dredging around eelgrass beds, a new federal policy; cataloging creek mouths for resilience; and boating with elected officials to learn about the Bay, a teenager’s view. Also sustainable growth in the Central Valley; research on the water temperature range tolerated by hardhead minnows; a national blueprint for water trails; HOA management of private wetlands; a bioblitz of citizen science; and new state dredge and fill protocols for California wetlands.
Measuring fresh water flow in the Delta through the flow station network; restoring wetlands with school kids at Hamilton airbase; accommodating both veterans and terns on Alameda naval base; and testing racks, screens, and lights as deterrents for sturgeon around irrigation intakes. Also, levee vegetation policy; legacy mercury mobilization from salt pond restoration; the downturn in restoration funding; abandoned vessel policy; wetland activist Florence La Riviere; and new greywater-friendly plumbing codes for California.
Cleaning up derelict vessels on San Francisco Bay; burning the fuel of the future (FOG-fat, oil and grease) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; designing micro-islands for shorebirds; and studying how fast restored wetlands reach reference conditions. Also, a regional monitoring plan for restored wetlands; an ecological history of the Napa Valley; and the views of three scientists (Swanson, Rosenfield, Winternitz) on the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan’s effects analysis.
Mapping two species of native pondweed in Suisun Bay; blaming stripers for salmon loss in the Sacramento River; and choosing projects to receive the settlement dollars from the Cosco Busan oil spill. Also, asphalt plant on the much- restored Petaluma River; Steve Crooks on blue carbon; climate change impacts on the Delta; and oil spill impacts on herring.