Other major decisions that have affected the protection of 
San Francisco Bay and the adjacent wetlands have been the 
formation of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission 
that limited further filling of the Bay; the RWQCB's support of 
State and Federal fisheries agencies policies regarding "no net 
loss of wetlands in the regulation of landfills;" the Citizens 
for a Better Environment pressure to implement the Federal 
pretreatment programs to reduce toxic materials discharged to 
municipal sewerage systems; and the RWQCB's pursuit of best 
management practices to prevent the spill of petroleum products 
during vessel transfer operations. 
These decisons have resulted in the re-establishment of 
beneficial uses such as the opening of 1 mile of shoreline in 
San Mateo County for the public harvesting of shellfish in 1982, 
1983, and 1985 for the first time since the 1930s; the consid¬ 
eration of commercial oyster and clam farming along the East Bay 
shoreline; and, the extreme South Bay, once grossly polluted, 
now supports a commercial bait shrimp fishery and there are 
reports of sturgeon and striped bass being caught. Less subtle 
improvements have been the increased water clarity and reduced 
bacterial levels along the San Francisco shoreline as a result 
of the reduction of wet weather raw sewage combined sewer 
overflows from 80-100 to several each year. 
Many of these management decisions were mandated by the 
FWPCA, were made possible as a result of the availability of 
sewage construction grants and resulted from the public's con¬ 
cern about gross pollution caused by such incidents as oil 
spills. Although there have been success stories as a result of 
these management decisions, there is growing concern about toxic 
discharges to the Bay; impacts on non-point sources such as 
urban runoff, dredging, and spoil disposal; agricultural drain¬ 
age containing selinium and pesticides; and impacts of further 
diversions of freshwater which is considered to be necessary for 
the maintenance of a balanced estuarine system. 
WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT NEEDS 
The water quality management needs of San Francisco Bay are 
numerous and varied ranging from completion of the already plan¬ 
ned improvements to waste water facilities to basic research on 
those factors affecting Bay water quality. The City and County 
of San Francisco need to construct approximately $400 million in 
sewer system improvements to complete essential elements of its 
Master Plan and the East Bay Cities are faced with expenditures 
up to $750 million to upgrade the sewer systems to reduce raw 
sewage overflows. 
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