By Neil Farrell

Ship’s Log 2015: A small, under-funded, non-profit agency under the umbrella of the federation is turning 20 and continuing its ongoing mission to discover what’s harming the bay, to champion clean water and study where no-one else has looked before… (Queue music)
Pardon the Star Trek spoof, but the National Estuary Program in Morro Bay is on a mission not unlike Capt. Kirk and the late-Mr. Spock, trying to unlock mysteries and save the day in a foreign universe called the estuary, a place where seawater and freshwater mix, creating habitat for countless marine animals and plants to thrive and sometimes, mysteriously suffer great loss.
The most likely key is water quality but throw in the myriad of other conditions that affect the ecosystem including weather and climate change, human impacts, and you’ve got a conundrum to fill an entire Star Trek season.
Adrienne Harris, the executive director of the NEP, said as they celebrate the NEP’s 20th Anniversary, they turn focus from land acquisition and conservation to a more scientific look into what’s causing, for example, the eelgrass acreage in the estuary to decline to the lowest by far that’s ever been recorded.
“We’re very concerned about the eelgrass decline,” Harris said, “and we’re trying to bring it back.” Eelgrass is essential habitat as a fish nursery, food source and much more.
She conceded that the amount of eelgrass in the bay fluctuates, but the previous low was about 100 acres in the late 1990s. It’s now down to about 17. “It’s much lower than the lowest-low we’ve ever seen.”
In 2013 they started a volunteer program to transplant eelgrass shoots to areas of the Bay where it’s disappeared, with pretty good success. “About 50 percent of the plots have eelgrass after one year,” Harris said. “That’s not bad. We’ll see if we can make it better.” They’ve noted a rapid eelgrass decline since 2007, 95% so far.
The anniversary marks a milestone and a chance to honor the folks who got all this started back in 1986 with the formation of the “Morro Bay Task Force,” according to a timeline of events published in the NEP’s 2014 Annual Report.
Then in 1987, Harris explained, the Clean Water Act was amended to establish U.S. national estuaries. Among the first designated by Congress’ actions was San Francisco Bay. Soon they opened the program up to have communities nominate their local estuaries.
Currently, there are 28 national estuaries on the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Coasts and one in Puerto Rico. Morro Bay is the smallest after Puerto Rico. The first attempt by local activists didn’t turn out well. “They got a ‘No’ the first time,” Harris said.
So the folks from the Task Force, the Bay Foundation and Friends of the Estuary went to work educating the public about the importance of the estuary to the local marine environment, and how to best protect it. The first State of the Bay Conference, a 9-day event, was held in 1991.
In 1993, they started a volunteer, water monitoring program, sampling rain runoff from storm drains and local creeks that empty into the estuary. That program continues today.
The local groups went to the State Legislature and in 1994 got Morro Bay Estuary named as the first official California State Estuary. The honorific was mostly just on paper, as the State didn’t include any money to actually start in on the mission: to protect and restore the Morro Bay Estuary for people and wildlife.
A second attempt at national status was ultimately successful and the Morro Bay National Estuary was born in 1995. It was a rocky first few years, as the structure of the NEP was hashed out. Eventually the Environmental Protection Agency stepped in and settled the natter.
A structure was set up that includes an Executive Committee made up of representatives from the USEPA, Regional Water Quality Control Board, County Supervisors, City Council, Los Osos CSD, Bay Foundation, and Morro Bay Harbor Department. It also has members representing specific groups — Coastal Conservancy, environmental groups, agriculture, fishing, tourism/recreation, and science and research.
Essentially, the MBNEP is a private, non-profit organization, overseen by EPA. It has no enforcement authority and could probably be best described as “quasi-governmental” or a “non-governmental organization” or NGO.
It’s mainly funded by the Bay Foundation, along with a government grant that Harris said had been shrinking each of the past several years. However, she expects to get a slight up-tick in support this year.
MBNEP has just six full time staff plus a part time staff that fluctuates, and hundreds of volunteers that support the program. They’re located on the second floor of the Embarcadero’s Marina Square, where the Estuary Center exhibits and NEP offices are located.
The whole shebang really got started in the 1990s, after the water board fined Pacific Gas & Electric millions for negative thermal impacts of the cooling system at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. A large chunk of money, about $4 million, was dedicated by the water board to fund the NEP.
The NEP’s first order of business was to write a “Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan,” an enormous undertaking with more than 700 volunteers taking part over four years. The CCMP was approved and signed by the Governor in 1999, as a requirement of State Estuary status.
“In the early days,” Harris said, “we were involved in land acquisition, keeping it in open space or agriculture.”
Perhaps its biggest accomplishment was a 2003 deal to buy the 580-acre Hollister Ranch, which straddles Hwy 1 in the shadow of Hollister Peak. Though not much had been done with the ranch beyond cultivation of some row crops, a failed avocado orchard and cattle grazing, there was a previous attempt to develop some of it as a destination golf resort.
It’s now under the auspices of the California Fish & Wildlife Department as a preserve.
Harris said they plan to propose removing several creek levies and restoring a former flood plain on the ranch, to act as a sediment trap.
Other highlights of the past 20 years include major restoration efforts in 2003 and ’04 along Walters Creek and the 2008 acquisition of Sweet Springs East, expanding the Audubon preserve in Los Osos by 8.3 acres.
The NEP has funded derelict boat removals in the Bay and another program — fencing cattle out of creeks — that’s having an impact on the bacteria levels in the creeks, something Harris said is a “tricky” problem to address.
They will continue to search out ways to further slow sedimentation, the biggest threat to the estuary that was identified in that first management plan and the update that was completed in 2012.
As for celebrating, Harris said they have “Morro Bay Estuary — Celebrating a National Treasure,” an art exhibit in conjunction with the Morro Bay Historical Society and Morro Bay Art Association, showing now through the end of March at the Art Center Gallery on Main Street.
The show will also go on display May 1 at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art debuting at the Friday Art After Dark event from 6-8 p.m. And in June it’s slated to be on display at the Edward Jones office at Harbor and Napa streets in Morro Bay. There’s a reception planned from 5-7 p.m. June 12.
The NEP and Sage Ecological Landscapes & Nursery of Los Osos are also putting on a free “Bay-Friendly Gardening Presentation,” from noon-1 p.m. Friday, March 20. The event will teach gardeners how to grow a lush water-wise and bay-friendly garden. Todd Davidson and Brandon Taylor of Sage Nursery will share tips and lead a tour of the gardens. RSVP to Rachel Pass at: , or call 722-3834 Ext.13 to reserve a spot in advance. Walk-ins welcome, too.
They plan to hold a poetry contest and a big celebration in the fall feting all the people who were instrumental in creating the estuary program, said Harris.
On the NEP’s website (see: www.mbnep.org) they’ve posted interviews with many of the initial volunteers, including Karen Worcester and Dave Paradies, Ruth Ann Angus, and Bill Newman.
Harris said they teamed up with travel writer, Tom Wilmer, for the 20 stories about the bay. They also plan to play them on the community radio station through the year.
Harris said the stories, “Reflect on why we all care so much about protecting this place and keeping it beautiful.”