San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF)
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EPA manages a competitive grant program to support projects to protect and restore San Francisco Bay. This grant program, known as the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF), began in 2008. EPA has awarded over $128 million to 91 grants . These projects include over 100 partners who are contributing an additional $248 million to restore wetlands and watersheds and reduce polluted runoff. This year we are also announcing combined FY23 and FY24 base funding for 14 new projects at $38 million. The new EPA SF Bay Program Office will launch this year with an annual program budget of approximately $50M.
SFBWQIF Investments: A Focus on EJ Communities
Since 2008, EPA has partnered with organizations across the nine Bay Area counties through the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF), restoring streams, wetlands, and water quality from the Napa River in the North Bay to the salt ponds in the South Bay. In 2022, Congress appropriated additional funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) specifically to support project implementation and climate resilience in underserved communities. To help combat inequalities in accessing Federal funding in underserved communities the SFBWQIF will award an additional ~$5 million in grants each year through 2026. See information about EJ Funding and our funded EJ projects.
Text Equivalent of Graph: 2023 Region 9 BIL Funding for Underserved Communities (pdf) (55.4 KB, March 13, 2024)
Project Photos
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Bioswale reduces polluted stormwater runoff along Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco, 2014. Photo: Ananda Hirsch.
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Sears Point Post levee breach view from a distance of the work area, now flooded wetlands, with the Richmond Bridge and San Francisco in the distance. Photo: Corby Hines.
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Sears Point levee breach overhead View, 2015. Photo: Corby Hines.
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Sears Point levee breach levee view, 2015. Photo: Corby Hines.
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Napa River, Rutherford Reach 6 during restoration construction: laying back eroding bank, 2014. Photo: Jeremy Sarrow.
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Napa River, Rutherford Reach 6 after construction, 2014. Photo: Jeremy Sarrow.
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South Bay Salt Pond A17 mudscape. Photo: Chris Benton.
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South Bay Salt Pond A17 near completion, 2012. Photo: Judy Irving
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Breuner Marsh during construction, 2014. Photo: Syd Temple, Questa Engineering.
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Breuner Marsh during construction, 2014. Photo: Syd Temple, Questa Engineering.
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Breuner Marsh after construction, 2014. Photo: Syd Temple, Questa Engineering.
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Breuner Marsh after construction, 2014. Photo: Syd Temple, Questa Engineering.
Contact
Mailing Address
US EPA Region 9 (WTR-3-2)
75 Hawthorne
San Francisco, CA 94105
Luisa Valiela (Program Lead)
valiela.luisa@epa.gov
(415) 972-3400
Erica Yelensky
yelensky.erica@epa.gov
(415) 972-3021
Dana Michels
michels.dana@epa.gov
(415) 972-3783
Lyndsey Tu
tu.lyndsey@epa.gov
(415) 972-3269
Emily Perales
perales.emily@epa.gov
(415) 947-3544
Daewon Rojas-Mickelson
rojas-mickelson.daewon@epa.gov
(415) 947-4191