By Con Garretson
IJ reporter
Thursday,
April 14, 2005 - A major
wetland restoration project
in Novato would more than
double in size as a result
of $200 million in funding
under a U.S. Senate bill
that cleared "a major step" yesterday.
Work already has begun to
revert about 1,000 acres of former airfields and taxi areas at Hamilton Field
into part of the San Pablo Bay ecosystem as seasonal and tidal wetlands.
The money authorized by the federal Water Resources Development Act,
approved yesterday by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would
go toward restoring 1,470 acres of native vegetation in the adjacent Bel Marin
Keys Unit 5 parcel owned by the state.
"This is exactly what we were
hoping would come out of this committee. We're thrilled," said Grant Davis of
the Bay Institute, an environmental advocacy group based at Hamilton Field that
had lobbied for the money. "This
is a major step forward."
Davis said
the inclusion of the adjoining parcel to the project would do away with the need
to build levees to separate the two properties and allow for a more integrated
approach to the restoration work.
The federal committee has authorized
$153.8 million, or 75 percent of the Bel Marin Keys parcel work. The remaining
25 percent would come from state and local sources, with the $16 million
purchase cost of the parcel counting against the $51.3 million match
requirement, according to Davis.
"This project will help restore
important San Pablo Bay wetlands as well as improve this vital habitat for the
migratory birds and endangered species that reside there," Greenbrae Sen.
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in a written statement. "I
am very pleased that the
Environment and Public Works
Committee has acknowledged
the importance of this project
and approved funding."
Boxer is a member of the committee
that authorized the money and was involved in planning for the restoration work
while she was a supervisor in Marin. The bill now goes to the full Senate for
consideration.
Work on the airfield portion is expected to take five
years while the overall project, including the Bel Marin Keys parcel, has been
estimated to take as long as 19 years.
It may take 50 years to develop
the full network of wetlands that would evolve in mud dredged from an Oakland
ship channel deepening project and other sources, including the planned dredging
of Novato Creek.
Contact Con Garretson via e-mail at
cgarretson@marinij.com
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