population growth has expanded the amount of effluent entering 
the Bay such that the ratio of wastewater to freshwater inflow 
is expected to double by the year 2000. As our technology to 
treat domestic effluent has increased, so has our society's 
ability to produce more toxic materials as both agricultural and 
industrial waste. Some of the highest concentrations of DDT and 
heavy metals among the world's estuaries have been observed in 
the sediments of San Francisco Bay. Organic compounds such as 
PCBs and PAHs are also found in Bay organisms and in some cases 
have been implicated in reproductive failure. 
People visiting the Bay area are sometimes tempted to 
question the impacts of the problems presented this morning. 
The sun rising over wispy fog and blue water presents a wonder¬ 
ful view to the visitor perched on the hills overlooking the 
Bay. The striped bass fisherman, the avid bird watcher, the 
beachcomber seeking shellfish in the mudflats, and the beachgoer 
during summer months, each suffer a small loss of quality in the 
Bay resources. They combine to represent a powerful environ¬ 
mental lobby to protect one of California's most important 
natural resources. 
The Scientific Perspective 
The primary purpose of our seminar is to describe the state 
of our scientific information concerning San Francisco Bay. 
Luckily, I've brought with me individuals far more knowledgeable 
about that topic that I, and I only want to briefly refer to the 
landmarks and "bibles" on San Francisco Bay ecology. 
The early history of discovery and scientific exploration of 
the Bay has been eloquently described by Joel Hedgepeth (1979). 
Science as politics has its backrooms, and Dr. Hedgepeth manages 
to find enough old letters and documents to indict even the 
staid old institutions of Stanford and the University of 
California in a battle over scientific territory. Not only 
scientists, but vaudeville actors like John Reber have played a 
role in stimulating research interest in the estuary. Mr. 
Reber's desire to convert the Bay into a large freshwater re¬ 
servoir provided the impetus to construct the Corps of Engineers 
Hydraulic Model, which has tested Mr. Reber's plan as well as 
many others. A number of Bay-wide studies have been undertaken 
but unfortunately, differences in methodology and changes in our 
understanding of the underlying physical and geological pro¬ 
cesses have limited the usefulness of this store of information. 
This level of effort has yielded a number of significant 
volumes which should be read by all scientists and managers 
responsible for determining the future of research and manage¬ 
ment of the Bay. In 1977, the Pacific Section of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science held a conference at 
San Francisco State University on San Francisco Bay and in 1979, 
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