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San Francisco Bay Fund
The San Francisco Foundation received a $3,875,000 monetary payment from
settlement of a lawsuit related to selenium releases to San Francisco Bay.
With this payment, The San Francisco Foundation established the San Francisco
Bay Fund. Since its inception, the Bay Fund has awarded 65 grants to 39
organizations for a total of $1,519,500.
Development pressures are creating new threats to the sustainability of the Bay.
Coastal ecosystems such as bays and estuaries are among the Bay Area's most important natural habitats. However, current monitoring and research have shown that nutrients and toxic and biological contaminants continue to threaten the health of the Bay and its watersheds. In addition, development pressures are creating new threats to the sustainability of the Bay from paved-over wetlands and watersheds, polluting run-off from increased auto use, and decreased water flows from upland rivers and streams. With this in mind, in 1999, The San Francisco Foundation accepted a $3,875,000 payment from a settlement of a lawsuit related to selenium releases to the Bay and designed the San Francisco Bay Fund Initiative to support the synthesis of scientific data and identify research gaps to guide science-based San Francisco Bay-Estuary decision-making and management; promote the establishment of sustainable, long-term water quality monitoring methods; explore ways to link grassroots groups with current scientific knowledge and increase the capacity of these groups to impact significant restoration efforts; and identify and build relationships with other compatible funding organizations to maximize the use of funds and expand impact in restoring and protecting the Bay and Delta.
The purpose of the
Fund is to support:
Who: locally based projects
What: to improve water quality or reduce
pollution
How: through environmental, public health,
fisheries, and wildlife research or restoration projects
Where: in San Francisco Bay
and/or its watershed
Community Vision of
Ideal Results from Bay Fund Grants
Community stakeholders created a vision of success for the San Francisco Bay
Fund at a planning meeting held in September 1999. This vision holds that the
San Francisco Bay Fund will be successful at the conclusion of an 8-10 year
period if it has:
- produced identifiable/measurable results;
- produced and applied new knowledge; and
- built stronger and broader involvement in water
quality and pollution reduction.