San Francisco, CA Office

Founded in 1971 and the oldest of all Environmental Defense Fund regional outposts, the San Francisco office is a highly respected member of California's environmental community. San Francisco staff are now working on projects in three main areas: Ecosystem Restoration, Oceans and Energy.

Environmental Defense Fund has been a leading advocate for the restoration of natural river flows since our office opened. That work has focused on water policy reform in California and the West, as the construction of dams and the excessive diversion of water are primary factors in the dramatic decline of salmon, steelhead trout and numerous other aquatic species. On many rivers in California, the streambed is essentially pumped dry to supply agricultural and domestic water uses, and there are only two rivers in the whole state that are not dammed. To restore water to the imperiled rivers, we continue to seek more efficient ways for existing water supplies to be distributed and allocated. Among our achievements over the past thirty years:

• Establishing minimum standards for river flows in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, and working tirelessly to ensure their proper implementation. The San Francisco Bay-Delta is the confluence of California's two largest rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, but also serves as a focal point for water diversions.

• Spearheading one of the first environmental water acquisition programs in the state. Similar to conservation easements, environmental water transfers permit an individual or institution to sell or dedicate their water rights to ecological purposes such as increased river flows or wetland restoration.

• Helping to develop an efficient water market so that farms and cities can meet their water needs through cost-effective water transactions rather than through the construction of new dams and diversions.

• Creating a program in the San Joaquin Valley that has dramatically improved water quality by making farmers accountable for their agricultural runoff. The farmers have committed to reducing the pollution from agricultural runoff by 50% during this decade.

On the Oceans front, our staff works with local fishermen, state and local government and environmental groups to forge coalitions to promote sustainable marine conservation. We strive to bring a rational approach based on sound science and prudent economics to government fishery regulations, which foster a "derby" mentality among fishermen to catch as many fish as possible, thus contributing to the problem of overfishing. Among our accomplishments:

• Helping to craft and pass California's Marine Life Protection Act.

• Working with communities on the Pacific Coast and in Hawaii to garner public support for marine reserves, a promising tool in combating the decline of fish populations. Using strong scientific and economic arguments in favor of marine reserves, our team of ecologists and advocates helped forge consensus support for a new marine reserve in the beautiful Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off the Santa Barbara Coast.

• Promoting Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs), incentives designed to maximize conservation benefits and address the concerns of small independent fishermen. The system assigns each fisherman a share of the total allowable catch as a way of keeping fish harvests from exceeding the scientifically determined limit.

• Working successfully to preserve the moratorium on offshore oil drilling in coastal waters of the Pacific.

• Identifying important emerging oceans issues including deep sea mining and carbon sequestration.

Environmental Defense Fund's San Francisco office has a long history of working on energy issues. We were pioneers in demonstrating that utility investments in energy conservation and in alternative energy sources are practical solutions that pay off economically. Currently we are conducting a study of diesel back-up generators in California, and are promoting policies that would increase the percentage of renewable energy sources in the state and implement "real-time" pricing to reduce peak demand by major electricity consumers.

California Regional Office
123 Mission Street, 28th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 293-6050
Fax: (415) 293-6051

Posted: 23-Apr-2009; Updated: 23-Apr-2009