Enewsletter for July 2021

Toxic algal blooms—which can make people sick and kill pets—are spreading fast in the Delta. Our patrol drone, Osprey, recently captured the footage above of the Stockton Marina, where plumes of sickly-green algae have fanned out along the waterfront (pictured, above).  

These poisonous microorganisms are the result of systemic failures in water management. Industrial agriculture and other large water users take so much water out of our rivers—and replace it with polluted agricultural runoff and wastewater treatment plant effluent—that there isn’t enough water left to flush out pollutants and keep the rivers cool.

Read more about harmful algal blooms.

A few years ago, swimmers from the Dolphin Club called our pollution hotline to report large amounts of fireworks debris in the Bay after a major show in San Francisco. Charred fuses and plastic continued to wash up onto shorelines for weeks afterwards. And all the local agencies we contacted claimed they didn’t know how to help. 

So we got to work to prevent this from happening again. As a result of our advocacy, the Regional Water Board recently issued new rules requiring all fireworks companies to follow basic guidelines to keep their pollution out of the Bay, as Baykeeper attorney Nicole Sasaki explains in this video. 

From now on, if you see fireworks pollution in the Bay or on shorelines, contact us at our pollution hotline, and we’ll make sure the agencies hold the polluters accountable.

The State Water Board is California’s most powerful agency on water quality issues, and its newly released draft Equity Resolution contains impressive language about racial equity. But to be truly meaningful, the statement needs to be followed up by action.

Based on Baykeeper’s decades watchdogging the Water Board, we know that living up to the new resolution will require hard work. Many of the Board’s actions (and inactions) over the years have negatively and disproportionately affected communities of color.

So Baykeeper submitted a list of specific actions the Board should pursue now to make sure their actions match their good intentions.

If you’d like to weigh in and urge the Water Board to take meaningful action to protect communities of color, you can submit comments by August 2. 

Photo: Lance Shields, Flickr/CC

One of the biggest opportunities to protect and restore San Francisco Bay wetlands and wildlife is at risk of being lost forever.

The City of Newark has approved a shocking new development plan to pave over hundreds of acres of open space adjacent to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge to construct 469 luxury homes. The proposal is set in a flood zone that will be under water as sea levels rise. Restored wetlands, on the other hand, would provide a natural buffer for floods to prevent them from impacting the surrounding communities.

Stand up for the future of San Francisco Bay. Ask the Newark City Council to permanently protect and restore Newark Area 4, and support its inclusion in the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Photo: Aric Crabb