Conservation group hired for eelgrass restoration contract
A Bay Area conservation consultancy has been hired to implement a $1.1 million grant to restore eelgrass in Richardson Bay.
The Richardson's Bay Regional Agency board of directors voted unanimously on Sept. 14 to approve the deal, which authorized Executive Director Brad Gross to execute a contract with Coastal Policy Solutions in the amount of $1,129,000. The contract has a stipulation for a potential increase of $266,900 and is to not exceed $1,395,900.
The program calls for the restoration of 15 acres of eelgrass by 2027. The contract is a portion of a $2.8 million grant awarded to the
agency by the Environmental Protection Agency in June. The grant calls for the development of an eelgrass management plan, research and restoration. The RBRA operates on a $1.84 million budget.
“This grant will allow us to move from just protecting eelgrass and stopping the damage to restoring some of what we've already lost,” said Rebecca Schwartz Lesberg, president of Coastal Policy Solutions.
As part of the contract, Coastal Policy Solutions will partner with Merkel and Associates, San Francisco State University and Audubon California on the restoration work.
Schwartz Lesberg said the work would move from a protection phase to a restoration phase.
“We wanted to get us to a point where we are not destroying any more eelgrass, so now we can really start to be proactive in helping the bed recover from the damage that has happened,” she said.
As project manager, Coastal Policy Solutions will lead the effort to regrow eelgrass on locations with anchor scour, or where vessels have damaged the eelgrass beds.
“We are taking the steps now to protect our eelgrass environment while also acting with compassion and being deliberate about our decisions,” said RBRA Executive Director Brad Gross. “This is a collaborative, commonsense move to create a thriving Richardson Bay for everyone to enjoy.”