Author: Josh Quigley

Fall has arrived and it is a great time of year to get out and explore the Bay. But with days shortening, Halloween looming just around the corner, and rain finally returning after a long dry spell, something particularly scary happens during this time of year – at least for those of us who worry about water quality in the Bay. The first storms of the season create a phenomenon called the “first flush”. That is the flushing out of all the trash and other pollution that has built up on our city streets over the dry season. Think of …

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We knew this was coming. This month, Governor Newsom announced the extension of a drought emergency declaration to 50 of California’s 58 counties and asked residents statewide to reduce water usage by at least 15%. That means that every Bay Area county except one (San Francisco) is now under the state’s drought emergency declaration. Local water agencies have gone even further by seeking greater reductions and imposing limitations on outdoor water use. Drought is not unfamiliar to Californians. Our state’s climate has historically been characterized by extended dry periods broken up by rainy years. But it is now clear that …

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This week the House of Representatives took a big step toward providing urgently needed funding to restore San Francisco Bay and prepare the Bay Area for the threats of climate change and sea level rise. The House passed the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act (HR610), sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier. HR610 authorizes $125 million over five years for wetland restoration, water quality improvement, and climate adaptation. It also creates a new permanent San Francisco Bay program office within the Environmental Protection Agency. We are grateful to Rep. Speier for leading this effort in Congress, and for the support of Speaker …

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Housing may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Save The Bay, but how we plan and build housing in the Bay Area is critically important to how we protect and restore the Bay and prepare our region for the growing impacts of climate change. The San Francisco Bay has long attracted people looking to enjoy its beautiful setting and economic opportunities. Unfortunately, the way that our communities have developed has been inconsistent, inequitable, and unsustainable largely due to exclusionary zoning practices that have contributed to the current housing crises. The effects of these …

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Take a walk along the Bay Trail and it’s easy to marvel at the beauty of the San Francisco Bay. But it’s also obvious how human development has shaped the area. Where there was once a flourishing expanse of tidal wetlands and mudflats, the Bay shoreline today is dominated by neighborhoods, infrastructure (highways, water treatment plants, and airports), and industry (ports, warehouses, and refineries). When climate change raises sea levels in coming years, many of these areas will be threatened with devastating flooding. Restored wetlands are crucial to protecting shoreline communities and infrastructure from being inundated by sea level rise …

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Urban greening plays a critical role in how we protect communities from climate change. Unfortunately, the long-predicted impacts of climate change are no longer just predictions. Over the past few years, climate change has already cause increased urban heat and worsened air quality, which impacts human health. And soon cities around the Bay will experience more frequent flooding caused by sea-level rise and erratic weather patterns. Preventing the worst of these impacts on our communities requires us to think differently about how our cities are designed and one of the best ways to make cities more resilient in the face …

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This November sees the return of a much-anticipated periodic event that has everyone talking – I’m referring of course to the return of the King Tides! King Tides are exceptionally high tides that occur when the earth, sun, and moon are in alignment. When these tides happen, water levels around the shoreline swell far higher than normal, and beaches, trails, and coastal infrastructure can be swamped. While the tides that are occurring today are temporary and will recede, King Tides offer us a glimpse into the future of what our Bay shoreline will be like when climate change causes sea …

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Yesterday, all across our nation, voters cast their ballots in historic numbers. We don’t yet know all the final election results with many ballots still to be counted, but we do have some election results on local races. Here in the Bay Area, voters had the chance to support measures that will make significant impacts on our water, open space, housing development, and transit. Here are initial election results on measures Save The Bay Action Fund endorsed to make the Bay Area more resilient, sustainable, and equitable: TOTALS as of November 4th at 1:30pm Yes on Caltrain Measure RR – …

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In a major milestone in the fight for clean parks and water in Oakland, Measure Q is on the March ballot.  For years, Oakland residents have had to deal with a lack of investment in the City’s parks which has led to inadequate landscaping, facility maintenance, and litter cleanup.  In fact, parks all over the city have creeks running through them, and all of Oakland’s parks are connected to storm drains that carry trash and other pollution into local creeks and the Bay. This water pollution not only trashes our parks and prevents residents from enjoying the creeks, but also …

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Last February, we celebrated a significant victory in the battle against trash pollution when the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) took a rare enforcement action by issuing a Cease and Desist Order against another state agency – Caltrans – requiring it to speed up efforts to remove trash from highways and state-owned roads and stop polluting local creeks and the Bay. Trash that builds up along roadways doesn’t stay there. When it rains, runoff carries the trash into the storm drains, through the storm sewers and ultimately into our waterways. In every city in our region …

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