Coastal Conservancy Awards Nearly $17 Million for Coastal Restoration, Preservation and Public Access

Oakland, CA – Today, the Board of the California State Coastal Conservancy awarded over $16.9 million to 13 projects to protect and restore the California coast and San Francisco Bay, and increase public access to these natural resources.

Among these grant awards were over $4.4 million from the US Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program.  This program awards grants of up to $1 million to states based on a national competition and funds significant coastal wetland restoration projects.

The projects approved at the March Board meeting were:

NORTH COAST

1. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $634,823 of which $358,639 is from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program to California Trout to implement the Mad River Floodplain and Public Access Enhancement Project along the Mad River, Humboldt County, CA; and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
2. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $4,547,520 comprised of $750,000 dollars in Conservancy funds, $1,821,938 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program funds, and $1,975,582 from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wetlands Restoration for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant Program, to Ducks Unlimited, and for the Conservancy to retain environmental consultants, to conduct the Ocean Ranch Restoration Project near Loleta, Humboldt County; and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
3. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $307,170 to the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District to conduct studies and prepare designs, permit applications, and a management plan for restoration of the Williams Creek watershednear Ferndale, Humboldt County, CA.
4. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $499,070 to the Eel River Recovery Project to conduct planning and prepare plans, designs and environmental compliance documents for water storage and erosion control sites that will enhance summer flows and improve water quality to benefit salmonids in lower Tenmile Creek, a tributary to the South Fork Eel River in Mendocino County.
5. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $188,480 to The Buckeye Conservancy to conduct planning and prepare designs, permit applications and environmental review documents for off-channel salmonid rearing habitat restoration along Wood Creek on the Felt Ranch property in Humboldt County.
6. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $979,000 received from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $980,000 received from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to the City of Eureka to augment the Conservancy’s prior authorizations of $2,356,000 for implementation of the Elk River Estuary Restoration Project, a tidal wetland restoration project in Humboldt County.
7. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $300,000 received from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to contract for post-construction monitoring of the White Slough Restoration Project in the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (HBNWR) on Humboldt Bay.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

8. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $1,000,000 to the City of Richmond to construct a 1.25-mile segment of the San Francisco Bay Trail connecting Point Molate Beach Park to the Winehaven Historic District in Contra Costa County; and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
9. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $1,434,400 to the City of Richmond to augment the Conservancy’s November 19, 2020 grant of $3,000,000 for the final design and implementation of the Terminal Four Wharf Removal Project near Point San Pablo, Contra Costa County.
10. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $2,474,600 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete implementation of the Hamilton Wetlands Restoration Project in Novato, Marin County.

SOUTH COAST

11. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $350,000 to the San Diego Association of Governments to construct the Barrio Logan segment of the Bayshore Bikeway in San Diego County.
12. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $734,730 to the County of Ventura to conduct planning and to prepare designs and environmental documentation for the replacement of the Camino Cielo Bridge over the Ventura River in unincorporated Ventura County.
13. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $433,650 to the City of Hermosa Beach in Los Angeles County to renovate an impervious and deteriorated beach parking lot into a green, multi-benefit parking lot and to prepare final design plans to renovate a second parking lot in the City of Hermosa Beach.
14. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $890,000 to the San Diego Unified Port District to implement and monitor a native oyster living shoreline project at the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve in San Diego County.
15. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $151,869 to the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation to collect topographical map data, analyze the impacts of sea level rise on rocky intertidal habitat, and identify potential restoration and enhancement areas across San Diego County.
16. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $218,895 to the California Urban Forests Council to implement a multi-benefit urban greening project that will plant approximately 500 trees through educational community events that engage residents in communities across the Upper San Gabriel River Watershed.

CENTRAL COAST

17. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $436,395, including $386,395 awarded to the Conservancy by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Program, to the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District to restore approximately 56 acres of coastal habitat along Los Osos Creek in the lower Morro Bay watershed in San Luis Obispo County; and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
18. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $360,000 to the County of Santa Cruz to prepare technical analyses, design plans, environmental review documents, and permit applications for water quality and public access improvements and habitat restoration at Moran Lake in Santa Cruz County.

The next Conservancy meeting is scheduled for May 27, 2021 and will be held via teleconference.

Notes to Editors:

The Coastal Conservancy is a state agency, established in 1976, to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, to help people get to and enjoy the outdoors, and to sustain local economies along California’s coast. The Conservancy is a non-regulatory agency that supports projects to protect coastal resources and increase opportunities for the public to enjoy the coast.

Since its founding, the Conservancy has:

• Funded 2,400 projects along the California coastline and in the San Francisco Bay.
• Protected 390,000 acres of coastal lands through acquisition of fee title and conservation easements.
• Restored 33,000 acres of habitat.
• Built 200 new coastal accessway and 210 miles of new trails.
• Put $1.3 billion to work for conservation projects, and leveraged far more from federal, local government, and private sources.