Qualla: Eden Landing Ecological Reserve

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit en:User:Paul.h, Public domain. For decades, the salt ponds at Eden Landing were an industrial landscape -- geometric basins where bay water was evaporated to produce salt. Now they are becoming something else. The Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, spanning portions of Hayward and Union City on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, is one of the largest wetland restoration projects in the West, converting former salt ponds back to the tidal marshland that the bay originally supported.

Image: en:User:Paul.h | Public domain

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve: From Salt to Marsh

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. The conversion of salt ponds to tidal marsh is a slow process that involves breaching levees, managing water levels, and waiting for native plants to colonize the newly restored terrain. Eden Landing is part of the broader South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, which aims to re...

Image: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve: The Species That Need It

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The reserve provides critical habitat for several endangered and threatened species, including the California clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse, both of which depend on tidal marsh for survival. Shorebirds and waterfowl use the restored ponds during migration, and the...

Image: Public domain

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve: Geometric Patterns

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mercurywoodrose, CC BY-SA 3.0. From the air, Eden Landing is a striking mosaic of colors and shapes: the remaining salt ponds show various hues of green, pink, and brown depending on salinity and algae concentration, while restored areas appear as natural marsh. The geometric patterns of the industrial ponds g...

Image: Mercurywoodrose | CC BY-SA 3.0