Bay Area wetland restoration tax passes

Bay Area voters Tuesday approved a $12 annual parcel tax for San Francisco Bay wetland improvements, a $500 million regional measure with several possible benefactors identified in the Petaluma area.

The initiative, Measure AA, passed above the required two-thirds threshold in the nine-county Bay Area with preliminary results showing 69.3 percent of residents voting to approve the parcel tax as of Wednesday morning. Yet the measure failed to attract two thirds of voters in Sonoma County, with county election data showing 63.3 percent of voters here approving the item.

While vast swaths of Sonoma County – the largest county in the Bay Area – do not touch the bay directly, the health of the waterway’s marshlands still stands to impact those living or working in farther-flung areas, said Barbara Salzman, president of the Marin Audubon Society.

“This is the most important estuary on the West Coast,” she said of the Petaluma Marsh. “It’s an estuary that needs to be protected.

Supporters describe tax as a multi-faceted measure that will support habitat restoration and public recreation along the bay, as well as bolster the natural flood protection those wetlands provide for the Bay Area’s coastal communities. The effort is seen by supporters as particularly important at a time when rising sea levels could come to threaten many of those areas, including some along the tidally affected Petaluma River.

Salzman said the prospect of future flooding would not only impact coastal communities directly, but have the potential to impact commuters and others who may not work or live near the water’s edge.

“You can’t drive around and not see the bay,” she noted.

The money from the 20-year tax could go toward a litany of projects across the bay, including nine eligible projects identified in Sonoma County.

Around Petaluma, those projects include habitat restoration and monitoring in parts of the Petaluma Marsh, where Marin Audubon has been gradually restoring the 180 acres it purchased from Waste Management, Inc., which operates the Redwood Landfill, in 2003. Around 100 of those acres exists in an area in need of significant further work, still reeling from the impact of historic diking due to agricultural activity, Salzman said.

The property is one of those identified as being eligible for future funding from Measure AA, with Marin Audubon acting as a lead agency in the restoration.

“It’s still in a process of evolution. We could use more funding, mostly for the transition zone, which also helps protect inland properties at this time of sea level rise,” she said.

Other projects include work to improve habitat, public trails and river access for small watercraft at the mouth of the Petaluma River, a proposed project where Friends of the Petaluma River and the city of Petaluma are among the lead agencies. Measure AA could also help fund restoration in the wetlands near Sears Point, two areas along Sonoma Creek, wetlands near Sonoma’s Viansa Winery, Skaggs Island and the areas flanking Highway 37 between Sonoma and Solano counties.

The board of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority will award the funds raised through the tax, with projects prioritized based criteria including the positive impact to the bay as a whole and beneficial uses for residents. Half of the funds will be awarded regionally based on population, with the remaining allocated by the board’s discretion.

The board is made up of elected officials representing the different regions of the Bay Area, with Keith Caldwell, a long-time Napa County supervisor, currently representing the North Bay. The Association of Bay Area Governments appoints the members.

Grant Davis, general manager of the Sonoma County Water Agency, serves on the authority’s advisory committee.

Listed supporters of Measure AA, which will fund the so-called San Francisco Bay Clean Water, Pollution Prevention and Habitat Restoration Program, include several Petaluma City Council members, local environmentalists and a number of publications.

The tax will raise $25 million each year, and will go into effect on July 1, 2017. Exact funding amounts for various identified projects and a timetable for possible awards has not yet been determined.

While the measure failed to attract a two-thirds majority vote to pass in Sonoma County, Salzman, of Marin Audubon, said she was heartened by support for the measure across the region.

“It’s heartwarming to know that so many people support the bay,” she said.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports.)