Watershed alterations

Watersheds and coastal and marine ecosystems have been altered in countless ways due to urbanisation. The additional residential, industrial, and commercial interests in the watershed have forced many alterations. Impacts from construction run-off from residential development and road construction, agriculture and siviculture activities, mining, inadequate/non-existent residential sewage treatment and the lack of planning and zoning have created some irreversible habitat situations.

 

The San Francisco Bay Estuary has faced degradation and destruction due to urban encroachment. The area has been studied extensively since 1972. Diverse wetland restoration projects have been implemented by opening barriers and restore tidal action. The projects have been successful in transforming mudflats into mature vegetated marsh plain and a decrease of wind and wave erosion has been observed. The area has also undergone regular physical monitoring since 1986, thus, building up a comprehensive evolutionary history of the site and site restoration since the start of the project. Data such as sediment accretory rates and rates of vegetation colonisation have been collected and are extremely useful in rehabilitation and restoration projects elsewhere.