For decades, parts of South San Diego Bay looked very different from the tidal wetlands that once occupied them.
asserted
that → look → them
Former salt ponds had been separated from the bay, limiting natural tidal flows and reducing habitat for wildlife.
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ponds → separate → wildlife
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, a partnership involving federal, state and local agencies and conservation groups began restoring the landscape in the late 2000s.
uncertain
partnership → accord → 2000s
By 2011, roughly 300 acres across the western salt ponds, the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve and Emory Cove had been restored.
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acres → restore → ponds
The work included reshaping degraded areas, creating tidal channels, breaching levees to restore tidal influence and establishing native plant communities.
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work → include → communities
Bringing the tides back
Some of the western salt ponds had been cut off from tidal influence since around 1960 or earlier.
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Some → bring → 1960
During restoration, sediment was moved to create a network of channels and the existing levees were breached, allowing water from the bay and the Otay River channel to flow into the restored areas.
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water → move → areas
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the project ultimately transformed the former salt ponds into a combination of open water, intertidal habitat and upland marsh.
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project → say → water
The restoration was completed in 2011, with planting, maintenance and ecological monitoring continuing for five years afterward.
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planting → complete → years
It became habitat.
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It → become → ?
Wildlife began returning
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Wildlife → begin → ?
The most striking evidence came from the post-construction monitoring programme.
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evidence → come → programme
Over five years, researchers documented 80 species of birds, 22 species of fish and 10 species of invertebrates using the restored site.
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researchers → document → site
The restored wetlands provided feeding and foraging areas for migratory and resident species, while newly established marsh vegetation created habitat for species of conservation concern.
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vegetation → restore → concern
The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project says more than 90 species of migratory and residential birds are currently benefiting from the broader restoration area.
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species → say → area
Reconnected tidal channels created shallow-water areas that could serve as feeding and spawning habitat, strengthening the ecological value of the bay.
uncertain
that → reconnecte → bay
A wetland begins to rebuild itself
One of the clearest signs of recovery came surprisingly quickly.
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One → begin → recovery
Native plants began appearing within less than a year of the restoration, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
uncertain
plants → appear → Service
Researchers also found that the restored site was developing into nursery habitat for fish and invertebrates.
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site → find → fish
Monitoring conducted after construction found natural recruitment of native vegetation, including eelgrass, which is an important food source for eastern Pacific green sea turtles.
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which → conduct → turtles
The project also helped create habitat for the endangered light-footed Ridgway’s rail, one of the restoration effort’s key targets.
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project → create → targets
By 2016, the Fish and Wildlife Service reported successful breeding at the restored site.
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Service → report → site
From salt ponds to living wetlands
The restoration was part of a wider effort to recover coastal habitats that had been heavily altered by development, dredging and filling around San Diego Bay.
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that → live → Bay
Historical losses had left only a fraction of the bay’s original intertidal and salt-marsh habitat intact.
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losses → leave → habitat
Today, the restored landscape also offers people a chance to see the ecological changes firsthand through the Bayside Birding and Walking Trail, where visitors can observe birds using the marsh.
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visitors → restore → marsh
What was once a landscape dominated by former industrial salt ponds has consequently become a functioning piece of the coastal ecosystem again.
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was → dominate → ecosystem
And the five-year monitoring results provide a measurable record of that change: 80 bird species, 22 fish species and 10 invertebrate species using habitat that had once been largely cut off from the tides.
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that → provide → tides
The Aporia
