The california state coastal conservancy (SCC) requests 812,575 from the national coastal wetlands conservation grant program for the restoration and enhancement of threatened coastal wetlands along…

The State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) of California was awarded a $1,226,475 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Program (CFDA 15.614). The 3-year grant will fund the restoration and enhancement of approximately 4 acres of threatened coastal wetlands along the Tomales Bay shoreline in Marin County, California. Key project activities include removing 2,000 cubic yards of fill, reconstructing a historic wetland slough, restoring native plant communities, and enhancing habitats for special status species like the California red-legged frog and tidewater goby. The restoration work aims to improve water quality, accommodate projected sea level rise, and increase environmental resilience in this ecologically significant coastal lagoon site adjacent to Chicken Ranch Beach. The project will also address long-standing water quality issues by reducing bacterial loads through natural wetland processes.

The california state coastal conservancy (SCC) requests 812,575 from the national coastal wetlands conservation grant program for the restoration and enhancement of threatened coastal wetlands along the tomales BAY shoreline. This grant request is for the restoration of small but highly significant wetlands in an historical coastal lagoon site adjacent to chicken ranch beach, marin county, california. The chicken ranch beach wetland restoration project (hereafter the project ) will remove approximately 2,000 yards of fill and reconstruct a wetland slough that once dominated the site s hydrologic and ecologic processes and functions. The site currently suffers from habitat degradation and greatly elevated bacterial concentrations in surface drainage and shallow groundwater delivered to a small, degraded riparian wetland that has aggraded from fill material and historically high sediment loads. The site was ditched and drained to route residential runoff and shallow groundwater directly to tomales BAY. These actions converted much of the historic lagoon to upland scrub habitat, impacting the stream, riparian corridor and marsh that characterized the site. Removal of fill and restoration of site hydrology will restore wetland functions and accommodate an expanding salt marsh as sea level rise transpres. The site is small (4-acres), but significant. Within the tomales BAY watershed there are relatively few freshwater-brackish ecotones suitable for amphibians, shorebirds and other ecotone species. The project site provides freshwater flow to 2.8 acres of estuarine and marine wetlands in the shallow tidal zone of tomales BAY. The project will improve water quality and habitat for numerous special status species by restoring 1.2 acres of diverse wetlands and associated uplands in the coastal zone while also addressing longstanding water quality issues at a popular beach. High bacterial loads will be reduced by natural wetlands processes and passive filtration through sand lenses incorporated in the restoration design. The proposed project will: (a) restore topographic diversity across the site to remove historic fill and sediment accumulation, expanding the area of wetlands and shallow pools (b) restore site hydrology by regrading the site and directing flows from an existing drainage ditch into a restored wetland (c) restore native plants across 1.2 acres of riparian, wetland, and upland transition environments (d) enhance habitats for several listed species including california red-legged frogs and tidewater goby (e) enhance environmental resilience to climate change through accommodating sea level rise and restoring self-sustaining sediment depositional processes that will maintain tidal wetlands and (f) improve water quality by reducing bacterial loads, supporting adjacent downstream wetlands as well as outdoor recreation and ecological function.