The effort broke ground in the fall of 2016, but restoring the wetland wasn’t as simple as knocking down a wall. The project partners worked with Westervelt Ecological Services and Great Lakes Environmental and Infrastructure to rework berms and create new channels and basins in order to convey the water moved by the tides and effectively restore a functioning tidal habitat. The team hoped that by increasing the retention of water in ponds, they could create a “Crockpot” of slow, warm water to stimulate phytoplankton growth and boost the production of the food web. Located along the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area, the restored Tule Red property will be turned over to the California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife for ongoing management and monitoring. This monitoring will help evaluate whether the restored marsh is meeting its objectives, which include enhancing food production to support delta smelt and longfin smelt, and provide rearing habitat for young salmonids.

 

On October 15th, an excavator trundled out onto the narrow isthmus of land separating the freshwater Tule Red pond from Suisun Bay and began digging. As the salty water from Grizzly Bay began to pour through the breach, the 460-acre pond felt the push and pull of the tides for the first time in a century, beginning its transition back into marsh habitat. This reconnection represents the culmination of a three-year endeavor and is one of several ongoing efforts to restore tidal wetland ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay, which has lost an estimated 82.7% of its historic 190,135 acres of wetlands. The resurrection of this marsh will provide vitally important habitat for imperiled species like Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytsha), longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), and Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus).