Preventing endangered species from becoming extinct is not enough. The Bay Institute also works to restore a healthy Bay-Delta environment for native plants and animals by identifying and securing the flows and habitats needed to recover endangered species populations, and provide the ecosystem services that support these populations in the long term.

Rivers & Delta program staff provide detailed expert recommendations for more adequate statutory and regulatory protections, more science-based decision-making processes, more sufficient and reliable environmental funding, and more rigorous enforcement of existing requirements for ecosystem restoration, water quality and public health. The Bay Institute staff frequently provide expert testimony and supporting evidence to legislators, regulatory boards, agency directors and other decision-makers.

We also work collaboratively with government agencies, independent experts, water users and land owners to design and implement large-scale ecological restoration programs through a number of state, federal and regional initiatives, including the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act Anadromous Fish Restoration Program, and the CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Program.

Working with a broad coalition of conservation organizations we have developed a management framework to ensure a sustainable future for the Delta, based on the following elements:

• Clear, measurable and enforceable targets for the Delta ecosystem, including targets to maintain sustainable fish populations, restore hundreds of thousands of acres of four historic habitat types, and increase flows in the spring and fall periods
• Enough dedicated environmental water to meet the targets, and a water master to oversee its use
• A new Delta State Park and National Heritage Area, along with stronger oversight of land use in all areas of the Delta 
• A new water use fee, and environmentally and economically sound criteria for financing future projects