For decades, the South San Francisco Bay has been bordered by flat
expanses of diked and ponded bay water used for evaporation and
production of salt. Wildlands created conceptual design plans and a
preliminary cost estimate for the restoration of over 22,000 acres of
salt production ponds to tidal marsh and related habitat.

Wildlands incorporated regional wetland planning goals with species
recovery goals and historic watershed patterns into two restoration design
alternatives. The cost analysis correlated regional tidal datums with
individual pond elevations to determine the appropriate approach to
restoration, including design details such as the amount of excavation and
fill, the design of new levees and water control structures, and the protocol
for revegetation. Wildlands also provided long-term management costs and
project funding alternatives based on present value cost analysis for feasibility
planning. The South Bay Restoration Cost Study is one of the largest wetland
ecosystem restoration costing studies yet undertaken in the western U.S.