By Rob Mitchell,
Marin Independent Journal
Monday, August 15, 2005
S.F. conservation commission to decide key step in wetlands project
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission will vote Thursday on a proposed 630-acre wetlands restoration at Hamilton in Novato.
If approved, the central piece of the 1,000 acre Hamilton wetlands restoration can move ahead this fall.
Timing is crucial, because this step in the Hamilton restoration depends on the availability of dredged material from the Port of Oakland.
About 7.1 million cubic yards of dredging material will be carried by barge to San Pablo Bay and pumped into the Hamilton site, where the land has settled below surrounding areas. The dredging material will raise the land about 4.5 feet in elevation in preparation for the site's rebirth as a wetland.
"This is a very important meeting," said Grant Davis, executive director of the Bay Institute, a nonprofit involved in the project. "Getting this project under way took extraordinary leadership at the state and federal level."
The Oakland dredging is also slated to begin this fall, and to keep the approval process for both Hamilton and Oakland moving in step took coordination of the Army Corps of Engineers, the California Coastal Conservancy and local agencies and officials, Davis said.
The overall project will restore almost 1,000 acres of land that includes the former airfield and antennae fields at Hamilton, and possibly an additional 1,600 acres of adjacent Bel Marin Keys property that could be added to the project.
Davis said the Bay Institute planned to coordinate local involvement in the project through its Students and Teachers Restoring Wetlands program.
"There's an opportunity to involve the broader public," said Davis. "We envision bringing in kids from the schools to help restore the marsh. It's a very large mosaic, and it's unusual habitat."
More than 530 acres of tidal and seasonal wetlands will be created, providing homes for an array of endangered or threatened birds, fish and mammals. Trails and viewing platforms will be placed along the edge of the space to allow the public easy access.
The area lies between the Hamilton community and the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District land to the south and unincorporated Bel Marin Keys area to the north. It stretches northwest parallel to the former airfield runway from San Pablo Bay and narrows as it nears Highway 101.
A levee between the airfield and the bay will be lowered, and a deep channel dug to allow tidal flow into the new marsh. Levees will be raised west of the wetland to separate it from the Hamilton community.
The land had been diked and drained for agriculture, then used as the runway for Hamilton Army Airfield, and was transferred to the California Coastal Conservancy in 2003 to be restored to its historic condition.
The airfield portion of the project will last about 5 years and the entire project may take 20 years. The overall cost will be in excess of $100 million, 75 percent of which will be paid by the federal government and the rest by the state.
The commission meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at the MetroCenter Auditorium at 101 Eighth St. in Oakland.
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_2943503