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Category III Restoration Projects
Stakeholders Boost Ecosystem
When state and federal officials and major stakeholder groups signed the Bay/Delta Accord in 1994, it was widely recognized that the Delta ecosystem required immediate attention. The stakeholder community, led by the California Urban Water Agencies, took the initiative to support a variety of ecosystem projects that would begin the long process of restoring the environmental resources of the Bay/Delta estuary.
"Category III" of the Accord specifically called for developing projects to address the non-flow related impacts on the Bay/Delta estuary, such as unscreened water diversions, physical habitat degradation, and pollution.
Shortly after the Accord was signed, the Category III Steering Committee, consisting of representatives from state and federal agencies, environmental and fishery organization, and urban and agricultural water users, began the process of identifying and funding worthwhile projects to begin repairing decades of damage to the estuary's ecosystem.
The 38 projects identified on next map demonstrate the breadth and scope of the program. These projects are an important precursor to full implementation of the CalFed ecosystem restoration program, expected to be the most ambitious such program in the nation's history.
To date, CUWA has contributed more than $32 million to the Category III program, and essentially began the momentum toward ecosystem restoration.
With passage of Proposition 204 in 1996, California voters recognized the public's role in
restoring the Delta. That bond measure authorized an additional $60 million for similar ecosystem
improvement projects. In addition, the federal government appropriated $85 million in 1997 as the
first installment of a $430 million federal commitment to the estuary's health.