Approximately 95 percent of the 

 original 850 square miles of 

 natural tidal marshes in the bay 

 complex have been filled or 

 lost. The remaining tidal 

 marshes--about 43 square miles 

 --contribute over 11 thousand 

 tons of carbon annually to the 

 San Francisco Bay estuary. 



Suisan Marsh furnishes about 25 

 percent of the wintering habitat 

 for waterfowl in the Pacific 

 Flyway and we have lost over 80 

 percent of the area of this 

 marsh alone. 



Water diversions for agricul- 

 ture, urban and industrial needs by 

 Federal and State agencies and by 

 private developers have been the main 

 causes for these fish and wildlife 

 resource losses. What has the FWS 

 been doing to prevent further deteri- 

 oration of this ecosystem? We have 

 been handling our Coordination Act 

 activities since the 1950' s, but un- 

 til recently our effectiveness has 

 not been good. We have received sup- 

 port from private conservation 

 groups, the State of California and 

 other Federal agencies. The Califor- 

 nia State Water Board provided a Wa- 

 ter Right to protect striped bass 

 and Suisun Marsh in 1978. Presently 

 a four-agency group — California De- 

 partment of Fish and Game, California 

 Department of Water Resources, U.S. 

 Water and Power Resources Service, 

 and the Division of Ecological Serv- 

 ices in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service—is attempting to work out 

 satisfactory solutions to protect the 

 remaining habitat. We would like to 

 have a comprehensive water plan de- 

 veloped that would include fish and 

 wildlife water needs along with agri- 

 cultural and urban needs. We are 

 developing better data and methods 

 for predicting impacts. We need to 



We need to conserve and enhance the 

 remaining fish and wildlife habitats 

 in the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. 

 Heavy public involvement is essential 

 and we are optimistic that progress 

 is being made. 



An outstanding example of our 

 progress is the Secretary of the 

 Interior's support of instream flows 

 for the Central Valley Project for 

 the improvement of the delta marshes 

 and San Francisco Bay ecosystem. A 

 departmental draft EIS is currently 

 undergoing public review that pro- 

 poses legislation to reauthorize 

 the Central Valley Project to save 

 delta water quality and fish and 

 wildlife needs on a permanent basis. 



Freshwater inflow problems have 

 also been identified in several other 

 estuaries along the Atlantic coast, 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, Southern Cali- 

 fornia, in the Pacific Northwest, and 

 in Alaska. Particularly in Alaska, 

 we have the opportunity to bring the 

 freshwater needs of estuaries into 

 the early stages of planning. Even 

 though water allocation has not be- 

 come a front line issue on the Atlan- 

 tic coast, the issue will have to be 

 addressed within the next 10 years. 



There are certain general obser- 

 vations that I would like to em- 

 phasize in concluding my remarks. 

 First, many of the measures we are 

 recommending to benefit coastal fish 

 and wildlife resources will serve 

 other functions as well, such as 

 hurricane protection, water puri- 

 fication, contaminant removal, and 

 flood protection. Although direct 

 economic benefits to man have not 

 been quantified, they are real. As 

 an example, it is cheaper and less 

 energy intensive for natural pro- 

 cesses to clean water than to use 



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