Rotary International District 5170

A familiar sight seen flying into area airports is the white salt mounds and brownish water of the salt ponds clustered along parts of the southern end of San Francisco Bay. Some of these evaporation ponds have been purchased from Cargill Corp. in a federal, state, business and citizen’s project to restore them to their natural state. This project, called the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is part of the plans to “restore the wild heart of the marshlands” of the San Francisco estuary, the largest one on the West Coast and which drains 40% of California.

Using a PP presentation with narration and commentary, Steve Ritchie, packs an enormous amount of information in to the half hour presentation. The project was recently kicked off by breeching the levees and letting the natural tidal action restore healthy marshlands. The project is long term with a 30 year time span and is budgeted to cost up to $1 billion.

Palo Alto University Rotary commented that Steve is an excellent speaker and “certainly has a through knowledge of his topic”. Generally, Steve is available on short notice and brings his own A/V equipment. You provide a screen and darkened room.

Nov. 2008