$4.2 million to help protect and restore San Francisco Bay area

The Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded three grants totaling $4.2 million through the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund, which will go toward protecting and restoring the water quality, wetlands and urban landscape surrounding San Francisco Bay.

"Protecting San Francisco Bay is a top priority for EPA,” EPA Water Division Director for the Pacific Southwest Tomas Torres said. "The impact of these projects will go beyond the bay, helping surrounding communities build resilience to the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise."

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership won a nearly $1.7 million grant. Working with 16 other local organizations, the partnership will work to make the bay more resilient to climate change through watershed redesign, tidal wetlands restoration and urban greening.

Ducks Unlimited will put its grant, also of nearly $1.7 million, toward restoring 690 acres of tidal wetlands and 20 acres of upland transitional habitat. Working with partners like the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Ducks Unlimited eventually hopes to restore 100,000 acres of tidal marsh around the bay.

The EPA also granted just under $865,000 to the city of San Pablo, which will go toward green infrastructure and community education that will improve water quality in the community.