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Carquinez water flows in to revive Martinez tidal marsh

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 7:14 am

From the Times-Herald:

For the first time in about a century, water from Carquinez Strait began rushing Tuesday up a slough in the shadows of heavy industry on the Martinez shoreline. The tide gates were opened shortly after 10 a.m. and water flowed into a reach where it could convert up to 200 acres of seasonal wetlands into a permanent tidal marsh.

It was the second attempt to restore Peyton Slough just east of Interstate 680, before the Benicia Bridge. In 1997, a levee was breached and tidal gates were opened for about three hours before regulators shut the project down because of heavy copper and zinc contamination from a smelter that was at the site until the 1960s.

The polluted dirt was covered up, the slough rerouted, and on Tuesday they tried again, this time with the Bay Area’s top water quality regulator watching and smiling. “This is a big step, to be able to open this (tide gate) to let the water flow in a more natural situation,” said Bruce Wolfe, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control District.

Read more from the Times-Herald by clicking here.

June 18, 2009 · Filed Under Other Delta Issues

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