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As you travel along 101 through Redwood City, between the Marsh and Woodside Road exits,
if you could see over the wall along the freeway, you would see the 1,400-acre Cargill Salt
Ponds in Redwood City, which is now at the center of a huge debate about its future.
Cargill has used this area to produce salt for decades, but it is no longer profitable.
They have partnered with Arizona-based developer DMB Associates to build, over the next 25
years, 12,000 homes for 30,000 people surrounded by a massive levee, hundreds of feet wide
and over 10 feet tall.
Elected officials and scientists agree that this proposed housing development is one of
the biggest threats to the bay in decades, and the salt ponds can -- and should -- be
restored back to tidal marshes, to help keep our bay home safe and healthy for all of us.
Salt ponds are part of the Bay, leveed off decades ago to make salt. Just look at photographs
taken in 1943.
While the area to the west was already converted from wetland to salt ponds, you can see that
the entire eastern area was still wetland -- covered by marsh vegetation and habitat.
This is undeniable proof that the area used to be tidal marshes!
Tidal marshes are an important part of the bay. They are regularly flooded with bay water,
and are covered with salt-water-tolerant plants that host many bird and animal species, as
well as filter pollutants, store carbon and carbon dioxide, and control flood surges.
Have you ever noticed the "Drains to Bay" signs near drains on the sidewalk? Any pollutants
that flow through these and other drains, like automobile oil, lawn care, water from
car washing, all flow into the bay. When those pollutants reach the wetlands along our shores,
the mud and plants in the wetland take up the pollutants, filtering it out before it
gets into the bay water. Wetlands are our natural pollution filters.
But that's not all. Marshes control flood surges -- when high waves get to the marshes,
they are spread out over so much area and absorbed into the plants and soils, preventing
dangerous pressure on our levees.
But tidal marshes are only one part of the bay.
When many people think of the bay, they think of the open water, which provides habitat
for fish and mammals, beautiful views, and tons of recreation. But the bay also includes
the wetlands and marshes, both natural and restored, the miles and miles of mudflats
along our shorelines, the salt ponds, and other leveed baylands -- ALL of which offer
habitat for animals, amazing views, and fun recreational past-times for us all.
Even the state and federal governments agree that salt ponds are part of the bay, as the
entire Cargill Salt Ponds are regulated under the Bay Conservation & Development Commission
and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA).
The Cargill Salt Ponds were leveed off for salt production decades ago.
EVEN Cargill agrees that the site can be returned to the tidal marsh that it once was, before
it was converted for salt production.
Let's act to restore these leveed baylands back into tidal marshes, so we can all benefit
from the advantages of a health bay shore in Redwood City and across the entire bay.
If houses are built here, we will lose this potential forever.
The Redwood City Council would have to change zoning from salt production to housing.
Make your voice heard now at the next city council meeting, or sign the online petition
at savesfbay.org/redwoodcity