Environmental Impact Statement - Sonoma Land Trust

California Department of Fish and Game
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Executive Summary
remain generally unchanged. As required by NEPA and CEQA, it evaluates the
potential impacts of the Project and all alternatives.
The purpose of the Sears Point Wetland and Watershed Restoration Project is to:
• reestablish aquatic habitats and hydrologic connections including restoration
of tidal wetlands in San Pablo Bay for the benefit of the larger San Francisco
Bay estuary system
• to provide public recreational opportunities not currently available at the site;
and
• to contribute to the recovery of numerous species protected under the federal
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the California Endangered Species Act
(CESA).
Approximately 90% of the original tidal wetlands of San Francisco Bay have
been destroyed. This destruction is the result of the diking and filling of the tidal
wetlands for purposes of agriculture, urban development, and salt production.
The project would serve to restore aquatic habitats in the larger estuary system by
reestablishing a variety of sub-tidal and inter-tidal habitats and reconnecting
these and upland habitats to open water habitats in San Pablo Bay. It would also
serve to enhance and manage non-tidal marsh habitats on agricultural lands.
Overall, the project would meet many of the restoration needs identified in the
Bay Ecosystem Habitat Goals Report, as well as the habitat needs established in
the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture Implementation Strategy. At the same time,
the project also seeks to retain agricultural uses at the site to the extent feasible.
As such, the project does not propose to restore the site entirely; rather, it seeks
to balance the broader goals of ecosystem restoration with the preservation of
existing compatible land uses.
Restoration of tidal wetland habitat at Sears Point will follow the plan as set by
the Bay Ecosystem Habitat Goals Report. The Goals Report is an informational
document that recommends the types, areal extent, and distribution of habitats
needed to sustain diverse and healthy ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay
estuary system.
Goal and Objectives
Project Goals
The project goals are:
1. For the diked baylands portion of the site, to implement the
recommendations of the Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Report (Goals
Project 1999), including:
• Preserve and restore a large continuous band of tidal marsh along the
bayfront between the Petaluma River and Tolay Creek.
Sears Point Wetland and Watershed Restoration
Project Final Environmental Impact
Report/Environmental Impact Statement
ES-2
April 2012