San Jose: $197 million project completed to improve flood protection along south San Francisco Bay shoreline

"Hoping to reduce flooding risk for thousands of people living in low lying areas and expand habitat for fish and wildlife, Silicon Valley's largest water agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday announced they have completed a $197 million project to build two miles of new levees along San Francisco Bay's southern shoreline. The new 15-foot-high clay and dirt structures stretch from Alviso Marina County Park to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center."

"The work, officially called the South Bay Shoreline Project, also is the key step toward plans for restoring 2,900 acres of former Cargill industrial salt evaporation ponds near Alviso back to tidal wetlands for fish and wildlife, and to expand waterfront public trails in the South Bay, officials said. "In a region of 8 million people, the national wildlife refuge offers something rare: solitude, wonder and connection," said Chris Barr, deputy manager of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex, a 55,000-acre collection of seven wildlife refuges around the Bay Area."

Silicon Valley's largest water agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a $197 million project constructing two miles of 15-foot-high clay and dirt levees along the southern shoreline of San Francisco Bay. The levees extend from Alviso Marina County Park to the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center. The structures replace 6- to 10-foot dirt berms and are designed to protect homes, businesses, key facilities and about 5,500 residents from severe winter storms and rising sea levels. The project also enables restoration of roughly 2,900 acres of former salt ponds to tidal wetlands and expansion of waterfront trails.

Read at The Mercury News