The Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies Why is it Here ? by Jim Kelley
Feb 25, 2016
The Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies
Why is it Here ?
by Jim Kelley
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Why Do We Live in the Bay Area?
San Francisco BayMakes Life in the Bay Area
What It Is
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What Do You Think Of When You Hear
“San Francisco Bay?”
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A Famous Bridge?
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A Beautiful Landscape?
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Alcatraz?
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Fisherman’s Wharf?
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Silicon Valley?
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Big Boat Races?
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An Urbanized Estuary?
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EstuariesAre Places Where a River Meets the
Sea
This May Occur in a Bay, for example…
• San Francisco Bay• Chesapeake Bay• Bo Hai Gulf of the Yellow River• Thames River Estuary
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Bo Hai Gulf
Yellow River
ThamesEstuary
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EstuariesAre Places Where a River Meets
the Sea
Or It May Occur in a Fjord, for example…
• Oslofjord• Puget Sound• Cook Inlet
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Oslo
Oslofjord
AnchorageCook Inlet
Puget Sound
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EstuariesOf Course Deltas Are Also Places Where A River Meets the Sea, But In Deltas
the Fresh and Salt Water Mix Turbulently at the Delta Margin, so they Behave Differently from Estuaries.
Examples are:– Mississippi River (Historically)– Mekong Delta– The Netherlands (Rhine River Delta)
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1973 1989 2003
Erosion of the Mississippi Delta
Mekong River
NetherlandsRhine
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Estuaries• Are Important Nursery Grounds for the
Ocean• Are as Biologically Productive as Irrigated
Agriculture on a per square meter basis• Are Home to Most of the World’s Human
Population• The Sites of Most of the World’s Great
Cities• Are the Most Heavily Affected Parts of the
Ocean
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Cities on Estuaries• San Francisco• New York• London• Rangoon• Shanghai• Dhaka• Bombay• Vladivostok
• Buenos Aires• Montevideo• Rio de Janeiro• Washington D.C.• Ho Chi Min City• Tokyo• St. Petersburg• Bangkok
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Sylvia Mc Laughlin, FounderSave the Bay, 1961
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Often Estuaries are “Tidal”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Salt Water Wedge movesLandward on the Flood Tide And Seaward on the Ebb Tide
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the Golden Gate this DailyFlow is 6 Times the Volume
Of the Mississippi River
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Before Oceanographers LookedAt the Bay, Engineers Assumed
That Since the Tidal Prism is1/3 of the Volume of the Bay,
The Bay Flushes Every Three Days
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Tidal Mixing Flushes theBay Every Three Days
Salt Water
Bay Water
Ocean Water
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
The Original Misconception
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If the Bay Flushes Every ThreeDays by Tidal Action, You Can
Divert as Much Water as You Like
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Estuaries are threatened by: 1. Water
Diversion2. Wetland Loss3. Invasive Species4. Pollution
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Estuaries are threatened by:1. Water Diversion
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In Estuaries• Fresh Water Flows Seaward,
Floating on the Salt Water• Salt Water is Entrained at the
Bottom of the Fresh Water Lens• The Fresh Water Lens Becomes
Saltier as it Moves Seaward• The Salt Water “Wedge” Flows
Landward, Against the Salinity Gradient
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Estuarine Circulation
Fresh Water
Salt Water
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Estuarine Circulation
Fresh Water
Salt Water
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Estuarine Circulation
Fresh Water
Salt Water
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Estuarine Circulation
Fresh Water
Salt Water
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Most of theEstuarine CirculationIs in the
North Bay(San Pablo Bay)
And the Central Bay
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The Salt Water Wedge is notFlowing “Uphill”
It is Flowing Across a Salinity GradientAnd thus is Flowing “Downhill”
From Higher Salinity to Lower Salinity
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San Francisco BayIs Fed by the
Sacramento andSan Joaquin Rivers~~~~~~~~~~~
Together theDrain 43% of
The Land Area ofCalifornia
SacramentoValley
San JoaquinValley
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Most of the WaterFirst Falls asSnow in the
Sierra NevadaAnd the
Siskiyou Mountains
Siskiyous
Sierra Nevada
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Most of the WaterFirst Falls asSnow in the
Sierra NevadaAnd the
Siskiyou MountainsSierra Nevada
SiskiyouMountain
s
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Annual Mean Total Precipitation
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So, in California,The Water is in the North (Green), butThe People are in the South (Brown)
~~~~~This Makes
California Politics even more
Interesting theThey would be
Otherwise
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So, in California,The Water is in the North (Green), butThe People are in the South (Brown)
~~~~~This Makes
California Politics even more
Interesting theThey would be
Otherwise
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Actually, Only 15 %Of the Water
Diverted FromSan Francisco Bay
Goes to Los Angeles~~~~~~~~
85 % Is Used By Central Valley
Agriculture
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1960 1970 1980 1990 2000Water Year
Inflow
80
60
40
20
0Inflo
w a
nd O
utflo
w (
km3 /y
ear)
Outflow
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Expo
rt F
low
(km
3 /yea
r)8
6
4
2
01960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Water Year
Percent Flow Diverted
60
40
%
20
0
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Estuaries are threatened by:1. Water Diversion2. Wetland Loss
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San FranciscoBay HasLost 95%
Of ItsNatural
WetlandsIn the Past160 Years
Wetlands in 1848Wetlands Today
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Wetlands in 1848 Wetlands Today
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Hydraulic Mining in the Sierra Raised the Seabed Of San Francisco Bay 1 Meter Before it was Stopped in 1884
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Grove Karl GilbertStudied the EffectsOf Hydraulic Mining
On The Bay and Delta
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The California Academy of SciencesWas Founded in 1853 by 7 Men Concerned
About the Effects of Hydraulic Mining
Andrew Randall
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Estuaries are threatened by:1. Water Diversion2. Wetland Loss3. Invasive Species
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Invasive Species…
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Often Out-compete Native Species
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If Native Species Evolve Without Competition…
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Invasive Species Can Easily Take Over
Gaspar de Portolá Marching on Monterey
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Usually the NativeSpecies Suffer
DeclinesIn Numbers and Diversity
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In EstuariesInvasive, or Exotic,
SpeciesTypically Come In
As Larvae in the Ballast Water Of Ships
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Although Sometimes Pets Escape, As Do Animals From Live Fish
Markets
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The Chinese Mitten Crab
First discoveredIn San Francisco Bay
in 1992However it had beenSeen in fish markets
In the 1980’s
A native ofThe Yellow Sea
For Example…
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Mitten Crabs Simply Eat Many of The Native
Species of the Bay
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Tiny Asiatic Clams, However, Filter All theAvailable Food and Starve Native Species
1 cm
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Spartina alterniflora is an invasive cordgrassFrom the East Coast
Just Crowds Natives Out
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Invasive organisms account for between 40 percent and 100 percent of the common species, up to 97 percent
of the total number of organisms, and up to 99 percent of the biomass.
250
200
150
100
50
01850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990
Cumulative Number of Invasive Species
Num
ber
of S
peci
es
Year
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Not only is the number of invasive species increasing, so too is the rate of invasion. From 1851 to 1960,
the average rate of invasion of the bay was one new species every 55 weeks; from 1961 to 1995 the average rate
increased to one new species every 14 weeks.
250
200
150
100
50
01850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990
Cumulative Number of Invasive Species
Num
ber
of S
peci
es
Year
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Estuaries are threatened by:1. Water Diversion2. Wetland Loss3. Invasive Species4. Pollution
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1850
1900
1940
1990
Urban Areas
Tidal Wetlands
Major Earthquakes
Pollution is Roughly
Proportional to Population
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In Summary: Estuaries• Are Important Nursery Grounds for the
Ocean• Are as Biologically Productive as Irrigated
Agriculture on a per share meter basis• Are Home to Most of the World’s Human
Population• The Sites of Most of the World’s Great
Cities• Are the Most Heavily Affected Parts of the
Ocean
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Estuaries are threatened by:Ignorance
1. Accidental2. Planned
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John Reber
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So Who Cares About Estuaries?
Almost Everybody!
Although Sometimes They Don’t Know It
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At the Romberg Tiburon Center,Scientists Address All of these Threats
to the Health of San Francisco Bay
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How Did This Happen?
In 1975, 36 Acres of the Naval Net Depot Property was Declared Surplus by GSA
In 1978, The Property Was Transferred to the CSU
In 1976, SFSU Received Permission to Begin Development of a Center for Environmental Studies on the Site
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The Three Leading Proposals for the Future of the Site Were:
SFSU’s Center Proposal
American Youth Hostel’s Proposal for a Hostel on Paradise Drive
Marin County’s Proposal for a Boat Park
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In 1984, The Center WasNamed in Honor of
Paul F. Romberg WhoHad Led the Effort to
Acquire the Property andBuild the Center
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The Center Has Been Led by a SuccessionOf Dedicated and Talented Directors:
Erwin Seibel: 1978-1980Curt Davis: 1980-1982Mike Josselyn: 1982-1989Franz Andersen: 1989-1991Tim Hollibough: 1991-1995Alissa Arp: 1995-2005Toby Garfield: 2005-
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The Center Has Been Led by a SuccessionOf Dedicated and Talented Directors:
Erwin Seibel: 1978-1980Curt Davis: 1980-1982Mike Josselyn: 1982-1989Franz Andersen: 1989-1991Tim Hollibough: 1991-1995Alissa Arp: 1995-2005Toby Garfield: 2005-
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The Center Has Been Led by a SuccessionOf Dedicated and Talented Directors:
Erwin Seibel: 1978-1980Curt Davis: 1980-1982Mike Josselyn: 1982-1989Franz Andersen: 1989-1991Tim Hollibough: 1991-1995Alissa Arp: 1995-2005Toby Garfield: 2005-
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