San Francisco, "The City by the Bay," is commonly known for its steep hills and cable cars. The bay area, however, happens to be the largest estuary on the West Coast, and the second largest in North America. An estuary is an area where the fresh water from rivers mix with the salt water of the sea. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain over 40% of California's fresh water into the San Francisco Bay. The bay area rivers supply the area with rich nutrients that attract spawning fish, migratory birds, and marine mammals such as seals and sea lions.

Unfortunately, in the last 150 years, the San Francisco Bay has experienced such rapid urbanization that it has also become one of the most degraded estuaries in North America. Point source and non-point source pollutants that enter bay area rivers become concentrated in the estuary. Currently, measures are being taken to reduce pollution to the estuary from urban and agricultural runoff.

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