Residents Get Behind Scenes Look at Hamilton Wetlands Restoration

More than 100 years ago, farmers settling the Novato area believed they were taming the land by infilling the San Pablo Bay and turning wetlands into farmland.

But for the past decade, federal and state agencies have been working to return the area to what it once was: a serene place offering sweeping views in every direction and where birds, animals and people co-existed in harmony.

On Thursday, a group of Novato residents got a sneak peak at the ongoing improvements during a bus tour organized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. When complete, the area will eventually include seasonal and tidal wetlands, 2.7 miles of trail, lookouts and interpretative displays.

Residents visited the spot where the Corps will breach a levee, allowing water from the San Pablo Bay to gradually fill a former airfield and transform the land into seasonal wetlands. The work is scheduled for sometime this winter.

The Corps has so far spent $120 million on the restoration, a figure that doesn’t include the environmental cleanup. From 1932 to 1974 the area housed the Hamilton Air Force Base, a major military installation that served as training ground for air troops departing for the Pacific during World War II.

The base created many jobs, but it left behind a trail of contamination, including buried unexploded grenades, bullets and burn pit sites, filled with pesticides, petroleum and other harmful chemicals.

All have now been removed, but returning the wetlands to what they were more than a century ago will take decades, said Ed Keller, a project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who led Thursday’s tour.

As part of the work, the Corps is putting down four to five feet of sand on the former airfield, which will then be covered with a mud cap using dredge spoils and “sculpted” into wetlands. Nearby, a nursery is growing 14,000 native plants such as pickle weed, salt grass, juncus and California rose that will be planted this winter in the wetlands to help restore the original environment.

Meanwhile, the California Coastal Conservancy will recreate a coastal salt marsh, habitat for the salt marsh harvest mouse and the California clapper rail, a type of bird, that are both on the endangered species list.

A more ambitious plan includes connecting the Hamilton wetlands to Bel Marin Keys via trail and converting the Antenna Field into wetlands, but that is contingent on the Water Resources Development Act being passed, currently tied up in the House of Representatives.

On Thursday, as the sun dipped into the horizon and the sky turned golden, then orange, and finally purple, visitors gazed out into the open space, enjoying the views and snapping photos.

One of them was Hamilton resident Bonnie Campbell.

“I’m very interested in the wetlands as a sanctuary for birds,” Campbell said, adding that she frequently walks along the ridge between the former Army hangars and the wetlands restoration area. 

Another visitor on the tour was Ram Thadani, who moved to Hamilton to be closer to open space.

“I’d like to see them breach the levee and have the water come in,” he said. “We’ve been waiting a long time.” 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reminds residents that the wetlands restoration area is off limits while work in ongoing. 

If you want to get involved with the wetlands restoration efforts, the nursery in Hamilton is always seeking new volunteers. Contact Nursery Manager Christina McWhorter by calling 415-382-0104 or emailing 1plantminded1@gmail.com

Don't miss a thing in Novato!

Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our newsletter |Start a blog | Post an event or announcement