What lies beneath? It is hard to tell when everything looks so serene on the surface.
You could be fooled by the shiny and calm exterior.
That could describe what most tourists see when they relax and enjoy the majestic San Francisco Bay.
Having traveled there thousands of times over the years, we can attest to that. We love what we see on the surface. On a calm sunny San Francisco day, the bay looks magical and sparkling.
It encourages dreams.
Then there is a storm and what was lurking beneath now rises to the surface and even washes ashore.
Yuck.
There is lots of trash in the Bay Area and it takes a storm to crash open the azure surface.
According to baykeeper.org, “Storm water is the largest source of pollution to San Francisco Bay. When it rains, pollution like trash, oil, pesticides, fertilizers, household chemicals, and legacy toxic pollutants are washed into the Bay without being treated or filtered. Paved concrete and asphalt surfaces on roofs, driveways, streets, buildings, and parking lots send rainwater rushing into gutters and storm drains. This storm water – carrying all the pollution it collects along the way – then gets emptied into creeks and sloughs that flow into the Bay, or into the Bay itself.”
When you are swimming in the fantasy of a calm bay, it is easy to not be aware of the abundance of pollutants there.
Another informative source sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com adds, “Four Bay Area beaches ranked among the most polluted in California. Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica, Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz, Keller Beach in Richmond and Aquatic Park in San Mateo were announced as four of the top 10 most polluted in the state, referred to as “beach bummers.”
The last thing, that we who love the natural beauty of the San Francisco Bay Area want to see, is the environment deteriorate. It’s has to be one of the most beautiful regions in the world.
Something should be done to help stem the pollution tide.
One team is certainly doing their part.
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a National Wildlife Refuge complex in the state of California, comprising seven separate wildlife refuges in and around San Francisco Bay.
They are administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The complex is also responsible for the Common Murre Restoration Project, designed to protect seabird life on the California central cost, including the Common Murre. The project hopes to establish a colony of murres at Devil's Slide Rock near Pacifica.
That is encouraging.
More encouragement.
The Sierra Club is known around the world. Given their efforts to protect the environment over the years their admirable reputation is legend. They share their awareness, “In the urbanized Bay Area, how much of the "wild" do we have? Actually quite a lot. Even within the Bay Area we have a couple of wilderness areas, as well as the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. California has more federally protected wilderness than any other state except Alaska, and over the Bay Chapter’s 90-year history we’ve played a major role in campaigns to preserve our world-renowned wild places and establish the laws that protect our natural heritage.”
They are in good company. It takes a village to make great environmental progress.
Especially when the San Francisco Mayor is on that team.
Please read how she and other Bay Area Mayors are looking to protect the San Francisco Bay environment.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Battle for the Bay Wraps Up with Record Turnout in San Francisco, Oakland and San José
Mayors’ initiative as part of annual Coastal Cleanup Day protects the San Francisco Bay, improves neighborhoods, and combats illegal dumping
Bay Area, CA — Battle for the Bay, a competition between the mayors of three Bay Area cities to protect and clean the waterfront through increased volunteerism, concluded with record numbers of volunteers, trash picked up and beautification projects completed.
The three cities turned out nearly 6,400 volunteers who picked up more than 200,000 pounds of trash in just one morning.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and San José Mayor Sam Liccardo joined together to increase volunteer turnout for the California Coastal Commission’s annual Coastal Cleanup Day. In addition to major cleaning and greening projects throughout the three cities, the initiative raised awareness about the problem of marine debris, while promoting programs to prevent littering and illegal dumping.
Oakland, San José, and San Francisco competed to make the most impactful cleanups measured by volunteer turnout, amount of debris removed, geographic area cleaned, beautification projects and most unusual object found by a volunteer. The initiative resulted in:
- Number of volunteers
- San Francisco: 3,011
- Oakland: 2,170
- San José: 1,311
- Amount of trash picked up
- Oakland: 109,460 pounds
- San Francisco: 70,163 pounds
- San José: 36,414 pounds
- Number of Miles of Coastline Cleaned (estimated)
- San Francisco: 46 miles
- San José: 23.95 miles
- Oakland: 11 miles
- Most Unusual Object found
- Oakland - A statue of Vishnu found along the banks of Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland
Other projects included trash removal, habitat restoration, and tree plantings. Mayor Liccardo participated at Coyote Creek in San José, Mayor Breed participated at San Francisco’s Islais Creek Park, and Mayor Schaaf participated at Oakland’s Channel Park and Permain Street.
“The Battle for the Bay was a huge success with thousands of volunteers throughout the Bay Area cleaning up our neighborhoods and coastal areas,” said Mayor Breed. “I am thrilled that San Francisco turned out the most volunteers. But we know this wasn’t just about one day. All year round, we are engaging our residents, linking people up with opportunities to help keep our City clean, and investing in a clean and green City. I thank Mayor Schaaf, Mayor Liccardo and all of our partners – and a special thank you to all of the volunteers!”
“Battle for the Bay proved what Oaklanders in every neighborhood already know: that our neighbors are the most determined and inspiring people you’ll find anywhere in the world, and that when we set our minds and our hands to a common goal we make incredible things happen,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said. “But our vision goes beyond any one event — every day somewhere in Oakland, our community is doing something to make our home more beautiful and clean. We’re here to support that work, and we’re encouraging every resident to be Oaktown PROUD -- Prevent and Report Oakland’s Unlawful Dumping. With true partnership between our City and our community, our cities’ year-round strategies to clean and beautify neighborhoods and waterways will turn the tide on trash.”
“We’re thrilled to have participated in this year’s Battle for the Bay – where we joined with thousands of volunteers across all three cities to clean more than 36,000 pounds of debris from our city and waterways,” said San José Mayor Sam Liccardo. “I’m thankful we came together to celebrate this weekend’s real winner: our coast and our bay.”
The tri-city event drew major support from sponsors, including Recology, Alaska Airlines, Waste Management of Alameda County, Argent Materials, California Waste Solutions, Andes Construction, DeSilva Gates Construction donating on behalf of Cypress Mandela, Ray’s Electric, Clear Channel, Webcor, the Emerald Fund, the Warriors, and Black and Veatch.
Event partners included the California Coastal Commission, Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, San Francisco Public Works, Oakland Public Works, San José Public Works, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, Port of San Francisco, Caltrans, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, Santa Clara Valley Water, Creek Connections Action Group and California State Parks.
The challenge, dubbed Battle for the Bay, was in honor of the 30th anniversary of the 1989 “Battle of the Bay” Major League Baseball World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s. It also marked the 20th anniversary of a similar cleaning and greening competition between then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown.
As for the highly-touted wager among mayors, an unprecedented three-way win was declared. To promote volunteering, community service, and sportsmanship, the mayors all agreed to perform a day of service in visiting cities while wearing the hometown’s sports gear. Date and locations to be determined.
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opening photo fciwomenswrestling.com grapplingstars.com femcompetitor.com, sf.gov-photo.
https://baykeeper.org/our-work/controlling-urban-storm-water-pollution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_National_Wildlife_Refuge_Complex
https://www.sierraclub.org/san-francisco-bay/wild
http://sfmayor.org/article/battle-bay-wraps-record-turnout-san-francisco-oakland-and-san-jos%C3%A9
