Heron's Head Park

Status Completed County San Francisco
Project Type Non-mitigation Location 37.73783° N, -122.37269° W Map
Project Area (Acres) 38.20 Last Updated 14 February 2025
Project Abstract The Port of San Francisco owns and manages a restored wetland, public park, and environmental education center at Heron's Head Park on San Francisco's southeast shoreline. Funded by SFBRA, OPC, CDFW and SCC, the Port of SF constructed a nature-based shoreline to prevent erosion, enhance habitat and enable resilience to sea level rise.
Project Groups San Francisco Bay Adaptation | San Francisco Bay Joint Venture | San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (Eligible) | San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (Funded) | Wild Oyster Project
Administrative Region San Francisco Bay Joint Venture - Jemma Williams, SFBJV

Project Identification

IDType
148 JV - Record Number
RA-017 SFBRA - Project ID

Habitat Plan

Site NamePhaseActivitySubActivitiesHabitatSubHabitatAcresActivity StatusWater Regime
Heron's Head Park Implementation Restoration/Rehabilitation Vegetation Management Estuarine Wetland Marsh 4.00 Implementation in-progress Fully tidal
Heron's Head Park Implementation Restoration (unspecified) Estuarine Wetland Marsh 2.60 Implementation in-progress Fully tidal
Heron's Head Park Implementation Restoration/Rehabilitation Subtidal Habitat Shellfish beds 11.10 Implementation in-progress
Heron's Head Park Implementation Environmental Education/Outreach/Stewardship/Access Programs Unknown/unspecified habitat None 24.00 Implementation in-progress None
Heron's Head Park Implementation Restoration (unspecified) Vegetation Management Upland Scrub-shrub 14.00 Completed None
Heron's Head Park Monitoring & Evaluation Restoration/Rehabilitation Infrastructure, Vegetation Management Subtidal Habitat Beach 2.50 Construction completed Fully tidal
Heron's Head Park None Restoration/Re-establishment Vegetation Management Estuarine Wetland Marsh 8.00 Completed Fully tidal

Related Habitat Impacts

Impact Project NameHabitatAcres LostType of Loss
No Data

Sites

NameStatusAcres
Heron's Head Park Construction completed 42.20

Events

DateTypeDescriptionSite Name
2023-05-01 Other 5 years of post-construction wetland habitat enhancement began in May 2023 and will continue through April 2028.
2023-02-01 Monitoring start Monitoring started with first post-construction survey of beach profile (for comparison with as-built). "Year 1" of 10-yr biological monitoring of wetland, subtidal habitat, and bird usage of the site continued through 2023.
2022-12-30 Groundwork end Shoreline construction completed.
2022-08-01 Project start date Construction of coarse material beach for erosion control and installation of subtidal oyster reef balls for habitat and water quality improvement. End date December 30. 2022
2009-09-15 Phase end Transition zone revegetation Heron's Head Park
1999-12-31 Levee breach planned Levee breach from SiteEvent Groundwork end date. Heron's Head Park
1999-12-31 Groundwork end Construction completed for tidal marsh restoration Heron's Head Park
1998-01-01 Groundwork start Construction start for tidal marsh restoration Heron's Head Park

People

TypeNameOrganizationDepartment
Landowner Erica Petersen Port of San Francisco Engineering
Contact Jessica Range Port of San Francisco Planning & Environment

Funding

PhaseActivityFunderAmount
Monitoring & Evaluation Restoration/Rehabilitation California Ocean Protection Council $1,667,000
Monitoring & Evaluation Restoration/Rehabilitation California Department of Fish and Wildlife $1,493,000
None Restoration/Re-establishment San Francisco Public Utilities Commission $1,000,000
Implementation Restoration/Rehabilitation SCC State Coastal Conservancy $987,000
Implementation Restoration/Rehabilitation SFBRA San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority - Measure AA $796,100
None Restoration/Re-establishment SCC State Coastal Conservancy $590,000
None Restoration/Re-establishment Port of San Francisco $300,000
Implementation Restoration (unspecified) SFBRA San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority - Measure AA $296,122
Implementation Restoration (unspecified) Cape Mohican Oil Spill Settlement $146,920

Related CRAM Assessments

Visit DateVersionSite NameWetland TypeIndex Score
2023-11-21 6.1 Heron's Head AA1 estuarine perennial saline 78
2023-10-20 6.1 Heron's Head AA2 estuarine perennial saline 84
2021-10-06 6.1 Heron's Head AA1 estuarine perennial saline 80
2021-10-06 6.1 Heron's Head-AA2 estuarine perennial saline 83

Performance Measures

Plan NamePlan GoalPerformance MeasureMeasure ValueStatusEvaluation Date
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Community Engagement Benefits economically disadvantaged communities Yes in-progress/partially achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Community Engagement Has significant youth involvement component Yes in-progress/partially achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Community Engagement Number of unique volunteers expected to participate 0 count measure achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Community Engagement Number of volunteer hours expected to be contributed 0 count measure achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Community Engagement Number of youth participants expected to be engaged 4 count measure achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Flood Protection Miles of levee to be constructed 0 miles measure achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Public Access Miles of Bay Trail to be constructed 0 miles measure achieved
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Public Access Number of public access facilities to be constructed 0 count measure achieved
Name File Type Submitted On Submitted By
Port of San Francisco's Heron's Head Web Page Other 2017-01-18 Sara Haugen, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture
Staff Recommendation Other 2021-02-22 Sara Haugen, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture
Wetlands Restoration is Working - Heron's Head Other 2016-11-21 Sara Haugen, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture
Year 1 (2023) Post-Construction Monitoring Report Monitoring Report 2024-01-25 Sara Haugen, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture
Year 2 (2024) Post-Construction Monitoring Report Monitoring Report 2025-02-03 Jessica Range, Port of San Francisco

How to Use the Habitat Development Curve

Habitat Development Curves (HDCs) are used to determine the developmental status and trajectory of on-the-ground projects to create, restore, or enhance California wetland and stream habitats. Each HDC is based on assessments of habitat condition for different age areas of one habitat type that in aggregate represent the full spectrum of habitat development. The assessments of condition are provided by expert applications of the California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM). Visit the CRAM website for more information about CRAM.

For each HDC, reference condition is represented by areas of a habitat that consistently get very high CRAM scores, have not been subject to disruptive management practices, and exist within landscapes that are protected and managed for their natural conditions. The horizontal lines intersecting the top of an HDC represent the mean CRAM score and standard deviation of scores for 25 qualifying reference areas.

The age of a project is estimated as the elapsed time in years between the groundwork end date for the project and the date of the CRAM assessment. To add or update a groundwork end date, use the Project Events form in Project Tracker (ptrack.ecoatlas.org). The minimum age in years of a non-project area, including any natural reference area, is estimated from all available local information, including historical maps and imagery, historical written accounts, and place-specific scientific studies of habitat development.

An HDC can be used to address the following questions:

  1. At what time in the future will the area of assessed habitat achieve the reference condition or other milestones in habitat development? The HDC can answer this question if the CRAM score for the assessed area is within the confidence interval of the HDC. The answer is the time in years along the HDC between the current age of the assessed area and the future date corresponding to the intersection of the HDC and the reference condition or other milestone.
  2. Is the area of assessed habitat likely to develop faster, slower, or at the same pace as most other areas of the same habitat type? The habitat area is likely to develop faster, slower, or at the same pace if the CRAM score for the area is above, below, or within the confidence interval of the HDC, respectively.
  3. What can be done to improve the condition of the habitat area or to increase its rate of development? HDCs by themselves cannot answer this question. Possible answers can be inferred by the following analysis that involves HDCs:
    1. Examine the HDC for each of the four CRAM Attributes;
    2. Identify the Attribute(s) scoring below the HDC;
    3. For any low-scoring Attribute, examine the component Metric Scores (note: the Metric Scores for any public CRAM assessment in the CRAM database can be obtained through EcoAtlas);
    4. Assume the low score of an Attribute is due to its low-scoring Metric(s);
    5. Consider modifying the design or management of the habitat area in ways that will sustainably increase its score(s) for the low-scoring Metric(s).

For more information about CRAM Attributes and Metrics, including their scientific rationale, see the CRAM Manual.

Display Habitat Development Curves For Wetland Type:

CRAM Site Scores