What is the human activity and how is it affecting the ocean or bay ecosystem? The eco-system of San Francisco has come under significant threat from increased expansion of agricultural lands, urban waterfronts and increased run-off from industrial and residential landscapes. As human activity continues to encroach on the rather serene ecosystem, increased nutrient effluents from households have exacerbated the risk of contaminating the Bay with harmful bacteria and algal blooms.These harmful elements posed a great danger of poisoning he fish consumed by the Bay’s inhabitants, as well as degrading the human enjoyment and natural beauty of the Bay Area.
Increased sediment draining from uplands has increased turbidity downstream, and this has greatly affected submerged aquatic flora and fauna What actions are being taken or have been taken to change the activity or lessen its impact? In order to lessen the negative impact of human encroachment on the Bay Area, efforts are underway to combine marine spatial planning efforts with watershed management programs.These efforts are aimed at connecting the Bay Area habitats from uplands to the sub-tidal in order to facilitate comprehensive management of the Bay’s ecosystem. Furthermore, there are collaborative efforts undertaken to link the Bay’s environments in order to increase the synthesis between water-uses and land-uses. It is expected that these efforts will help in reducing fragmentation of management systems across the Bay’s environment.
What further efforts or actions could be employed?Even as the above efforts get underway in reclaiming and preserving the Bay Area, it is plausible that emerging contaminants and other potential climate change impacts have continued to raise more concerns. In this regard, it is important to come up with new and improved strategies that advance beyond the current management approaches. This means moving from the fragmented, inflexible and species of sector-based approaches to place-based, partnership-driven, adaptive, dynamic and holistic approaches.
