Dredging, Wetlands Creation, & Ecosystem Protection: Finding the Right Balance for SF Bay LTMS Methylmercury and Dredging Symposium January 28, 2010 Dyan Whyte, Assistant Executive Officer

Framework for addressing Mercury in SF Bay is the TMDL

Established Water Quality Objectives for SF Bay 0.2 ppm mercury in large predator fish 0.03 ppm mercury in prey fish California least tern

TMDL Implementation Dredging and In-Bay Disposal Load Allocation = Zero Load Allocation = Zero Implement LTMS Implement LTMS Restrictions on In-Bay Disposal Restrictions on In-Bay Disposal Sed. Hg conc. < ambient (0.53 ppm) Sed. Hg conc. < ambient (0.53 ppm) Operations shall not cause an increase in Hg bioavailability Operations shall not cause an increase in Hg bioavailability

TMDL Implementation Wetlands Creation & Restoration No net increase in Hg or MeHg loads No net increase in Hg or MeHg loads Requirements in WDRs/401 WQ Certs to manage existing wetlands and ensure newly constructed wetlands are designed to minimize MeHg production and biological uptake Requirements in WDRs/401 WQ Certs to manage existing wetlands and ensure newly constructed wetlands are designed to minimize MeHg production and biological uptake Pre- and post-restoration monitoring Pre- and post-restoration monitoring Adaptive Implementation Adaptive Implementation

Dredging + Desire for More Wetlands = Beneficial Reuse Cover and Non-cover reuse requirements Non-cover subject to strict controls Min 3 feet below surface at anaerobic depths below tide line Min 200 feet from future higher order channels

Current Approach to Adaptive Management Biosentinels Baseline Triggers Evaluate management actions Learning project by project

Discussion Topics  RMP Hg strategy asks the right questions, is enough being done to answer them?  Identifying the right biosentinels & triggers is critical  How reversible do actions need to be?  Regional Monitoring Approach – Is there a need to formalize?