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Land Use and Watershed Management

Problem:

Background

The watersheds of the San Francisco Bay Area provide an ecological framework for considering how land and water management interact to affect the health of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and its uplands. A watershed is an area in which all the waters within it drain into one body of water. A number of problems currently impact the Bay-Delta watershed. They include:

• pollution of surface and groundwater sources
• decreased infiltration
• flooding
• hydrologic disruption and aquifer draw-downs
• loss of upland open space, riparian areas, and wetlands
• potential for catastrophic wildfires

These watershed issues, in turn, impact the health of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, the Estuary itself, and the security and future availability of water supplies.

Current Challenges:

• The population of the twelve-county San Francisco Estuary Project planning areas is projected to increase by more than two million people during the next three decades. This growth and the corresponding changes in land uses will have direct and indirect impacts on the health of the Estuary and its surrounding watersheds. These impacts will include increased pollutants from point and nonpoint sources; alteration of hydrologic processes, such as infiltration, runoff, and stream flows; and impacts to associated vital habitats, such as wetlands and stream environments.
• The lack of a common vision and approach for watershed protection may be the biggest challenge.
• Systematic monitoring approaches that measure progress toward quantifiable goals are lacking.
• Agency mandates and jurisdictions are often defined narrowly. For example, local agencies may be reluctant to undertake watershed-scale planning and projects because they require working with other local jurisdictions. Failure to consider watershed complexity and to integrate approaches may be resulting in activities or projects that do not work, produce unintended impacts, or prove counterproductive.
• Watersheds are not a traditional responsibility for most local agencies.

More

Major Accomplishments:

• Recognition, funding, and guidance for watershed planning and management throughout the Bay/Delta watershed
• Support for grass-roots initiatives for local creeks, rivers and watersheds, and county or regional forums

Current Focus:

• Foster land use/transportation practices that protect, restore, and enhance estuarine values.
• Coordinate and improve agency planning, regulatory, and development programs to better protect and improve estuarine natural resources.
• Provide incentives for more participation by the public and private sectors in cooperative efforts to protect and improve the Estuary and its watersheds.

For a list of planned actions, click here

For More Information:

Land Use chapter, Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan