Federal officials on Wednesday announced $52 million in new funding for two dozen projects around San Francisco Bay to restore wildlife, expand wetlands and reduce the amount of trash and other pollutants going into the bay.
“It is getting us closer to a level of annual funding we should be getting for the bay, but also making sure all parts of the bay are getting projects,” said Martha Guzman, administrator for the U.S. EPA’s regional office in San Francisco. “It’s really something to celebrate.” “It’s exciting and long overdue that federal investment in San Francisco Bay is finally increasing,” said David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, an environmental group based in Oakland. “With climate change and pollution threats, the bay needs enormous investment over the next decade.”
EPA officials planned an event with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland at Arrowhead Marsh on Wednesday morning to highlight the new investments, which include projects in all nine Bay Area counties, with special emphasis on low-income areas at particular risk of pollution and flooding. Ocean levels have risen across the world in recent decades as glaciers and polar ice sheets have been melting, and warming sea water has expanded. San Francisco Bay has risen 8 inches since the mid-1800s, increasing flood risk during big winter storms.