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Bolinas Lagoon, a wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, provides critical habitats for hundreds of resident and migratory bird species as well as marine mammals, fish and invertebrates. Many rare, threatened and endangered species are found in and around the lagoon. Over the past 100 years, sediment has entered the Lagoon due to human activities, including logging and overgrazing. Though these activities are now much-reduced, some local residents became concerned that the Lagoon would silt up, close off from the ocean and become a “meadow”.
In 1997 a Corps of Engineers study concluded that it was in the national interest to dredge the Lagoon to remove accumulated sediment. In 2002, the Corps released a Draft Feasibility Report and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for what is now called the Bolinas Lagoon Ecosystem Restoration Project. EAC and other groups presented scientific evidence disputing the Draft EIS’s conclusion that a $135 million large-scale dredging project was necessary for the Lagoon’s “ecological restoration.” In response to these criticisms, the Marin County Open Space District, which manages the Lagoon, funded an independent scientific review of the Feasibility Study’s assumptions. That review, “Projecting the Future of Bolinas Lagoon,” was itself scrutinized by an independent panel. The conclusion supported the arguments put forward by EAC, the Sierra Club, American Rivers, and others. The report concluded that over the next 50 years, the mouth of the Lagoon is likely to stay open and the overall ecology of the lagoon is unlikely to change in significant ways. It also found that most of the sediment entering the Lagoon comes not from the watershed but from the ocean. Therefore, as EAC and others warned, dredging could actually increase the amount of silt entering Bolinas Lagoon from the Pacific. The technical reviewers concluded that “no intercession in the evolution of the lagoon to prevent its closure is warranted.” Marin County is now considering what actions it should take to ensure the long-term health of the Lagoon. EAC would support scientifically sound projects that would restore portions of the Lagoon that have become ecologically degraded, but we believe that large-scale plans to interfere with Bolinas Lagoon should be shelved forever. Read the County's Preliminary
Intervention Alternatives Bolinas
Lagoon Ecosystem Restoration Project Below are links to the original plan and comments on it: Marin County's Bolinas Lagoon website Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Bolinas Lagoon Preserve
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