Napa marsh restoration clears hurdle
Boxer's provision would OK $64 million for salt ponds

Thursday, April 14, 2005

By GABE FRIEDMAN
Register Staff Writer

About 9,400 acres of salt ponds on the west side of the Napa River may finally be restored more than 10 years after the state bought the land.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, attached a provision to a pending bill that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin restoration work, provided funding is available. On Wednesday, the Water Resources Development Act passed through a Senate Committee and now awaits a vote on the Senate floor.

"It's a huge milestone," said Amy Hutzel, California Coastal Conservancy project manager for the salt ponds. "It will allow for the project to be built, but it's going to take funding."

Diked off from the San Pablo Bay, the salt ponds were purchased for $10 million from Cargill Inc., with the idea they would be converted into habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, fish and other aquatic species.

As the estimated restoration cost soared to about $90 million, the salt ponds remained untouched. Salt that would have been harvested from the ponds instead accumulates, while levees separating the toxic salt pond water from the Bay deteriorate and maintenance costs persist. The Web site maintained by the groups overseeing the marsh, www.napa-sonoma-marsh.org -- describes an "urgency" to start restoration.

But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can't begin restoration without written authorization in the act, according to David Sandretti, a spokesman for Boxer.

"This is a significant victory for the state and for the people in the region," said Sandretti, about the act.

A provision for funding the project was attached to the bill in the House of Representatives, but the bill has yet to receive a hearing, according to Matt Gerien, a spokesman for Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

The provision would authorize the federal government to spend up to $64 million on restoration, and calls on state and local government to fund the remaining $36.5 million.

It would allow for the use of recycled water during restoration. At least one of the salt ponds contains bittern, a toxic byproduct of the salt-making process. That pond would need to be diluted before it could offer suitable conditions for wildlife habitat. Building two recycled water pipelines to the salt ponds -- one from the Napa Sanitation District and one from the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District -- is considered the most efficient way, according to Renee Webber, a spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Water Agency.

However in December 2004, the Army Corps of Engineers reported to Congress that the recycled water pipeline idea wouldn't work, and instead suggested using Napa River water to dilute the ponds.

Webber said that authorizing up to $100.5 million for the project, which would allow for construction of the pipeline, represents "a huge victory." Restoration will still take a decade perhaps, said Webber, but afterwards the pipelines will be available for nearby agricultural users and some of the ponds can be maintained as freshwater habitat.

Webber also said that the bill also allowed for restoration of a portion of the salt ponds, which the Army Corps of Engineers had neglected to include.

"This is tremendous," said Webber. "It looks really good for us now."