California Tore Up 15,000 Acres of Salt Farms — What Came Back to San Francisco Bay Was Impossible

California Tore Up 15,000 Acres of Salt Farms — What Came Back to San Francisco Bay Was Impossible For over a century, salt companies drained and diked the southern edge of San Francisco Bay until 85% of its tidal wetland was gone and the ground had sunk up to 13 feet below sea level. Then California bought the land back for $100 million and let the tide do something no one thought was possible. This is the story of the largest tidal wetland restoration on the West Coast — the endangered species that returned, the scientists who breached the levees, and the honest trade-offs the headlines leave out. Sources: South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project — https://www.southbayrestoration.org/ U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, South SF Bay Restoration — https://www.fws.gov/project/south-san... SF Bay Restoration Authority — https://www.sfbayrestore.org/projects... USGS Phase 1 Findings — https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr... FWS Historic Breach (2023) — https://www.fws.gov/press-release/202... Bay Nature, Snowy Plover Trade-off (2026) — https://baynature.org/2026/05/06/cons... #SanFranciscoBay #Wetlands #Conservation #Rewilding #Restoration