Purpose

The CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP) is designed to maintain, improve, and increase aquatic and terrestrial habitats and improve ecological functions in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) to support sustainable populations of diverse and valuable plant and animal species. The ERP is also designed to achieve recovery of at-risk species dependent on the Delta and Suisun Bay, as identified in the CALFED programmatic Multi-species Conservation Strategy (MSCS), and support the recovery of at-risk species in San Francisco Bay and in the watershed above the estuary. A foundation of the ERP is the restoration of ecological processes associated with streamflow, stream channels, watersheds, and floodplains.

ERP Overview

• Restore habitat in the Delta and its tributary watersheds
• Improve salmon spawning and juvenile survival by augmenting stream flow in upstream areas through voluntary water purchases of up to 100,000 acre feet annually for native fish
• Improve fish passage through modification or removal of dams, improved bypasses, screens and ladders
• Integrate flood management and ecosystem restoration
• Build local capacity to assess and effectively manage watersheds that affect the Bay-Delta system
• Develop watershed assessments and plans
• Implement specific watershed conservation, maintenance and restoration actions
• Prevent, control and eradicate invasive species
• Recover and assist recovery of certain species listed under the federal and state endangered species acts, and maintain status of other species identified by the CALFED Program