San Francisco Bay beach restoration

The Baylands Habitat Goals project identified 23 miles of sandy beaches in San Francisco Bay circa 1856. This is a conservative estimate and it’s likely that there was in fact more beach habitat. Now there are about 7 miles of beaches which are mostly in different than historical locations. These beaches are mostly “pocket beaches” which have either regenerated in different locations or have been emplaced by humans. The shores of the Central Bay (Berkley, Albany, Richmond, San Francisco, etc.) were the main centers of beach locations and have seen the elimination of most of these beaches due to urbanization and emplacement of riprap shorelines. To view current and historic beach locations, click here

Historically Bay beaches served important habitat functions. Bay beaches served as high tide refuges for nesting and loafing birds such as Western Snowy Plover and Least, Elegant, and Caspian terns. Beaches provide habitat for sand dune plants, including the federally endangered California sea-blight (Suaeda californica), which is now limited to populations in Morro Bay, and reintroduced populations at San Francisco’s Crissy Field and Pier 94, and the Emeryville Crescent. In 2004, grunion, which spawn in sandy beaches, were noted using the beaches of San Francisco Bay. Reduction of Bay beaches has resulted in the decline or loss of many beach-dependent species. In some cases these species have adapted to other environments such as salt-ponds and even abandoned air-strips (such as the endangered Least Terns that nest on the former Alameda Air Station). Much emphasis has been placed on managing altered Bay habitats such as salt ponds for the benefit of the plants and animals that have adapted to these anthropogenic sites, but additional gains could be made by restoring some of the historic habitats of the Bay, including its beaches. 

In addition to providing high quality habitat for beach species, Bay beach restoration would provide additional ecosystem services as well as a soft-engineering alternative to rip-rapped and leveed shorelines. Beach sand would provide increased resiliency and reduce remediation requirements in the event of oil or other chemical spills, which can now persist in out of the way cracks and crevices along rip-raped rock surfaces. Beaches respond to fluctuations in sea level and could provide dynamic shoreline protection in the face of sea-level rise within San Francisco Bay (for additional information and maps on San Francisco Bay Sea Level Rise projections, visit http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/). Finally, beaches afford many recreational opportunities.

On June 4, 2008, Audubon California convened a meeting of San Francisco Bay land owners and managers, policy makers, ecologists, engineers, and funders to explore the importance of San Francisco Bay beaches and to identify opportunities to replenish sand starved shorelines and enhance these systems. Audubon California is pursuing pilot restoration projects in a few San Francisco Bay beach locations.

Stay tuned to learn more and how you can help.