Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Map of the United States | |
Location | Contra Costa County, California, United States |
Nearest city | Antioch, California |
Coordinates | 38°00′55″N121°47′38″W / 38.0151989°N 121.7938444°W [1] Coordinates: 38°00′55″N121°47′38″W / 38.0151989°N 121.7938444°W [1] |
Area | 55 acres (0.22 km2) |
Established | 1980 |
Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Website | Official website |
Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge is a sensitive sand dune habitat located near the city of Antioch, California on the south shore of the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. It serves as a refuge for three endangered species of plants and insects, and is closed to the public except for tours and events supervised by Refuge staff. The Refuge was established in 1980. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [2]
A project to restore wildlife habitat, sponsored by the Port of Stockton and implemented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, began during 2013. This work involves dredging sandy spoil from the San Joaquin River and pumping it to the Antioch Dunes. The purpose is to spur population growth of the Lange's metalmark butterfly The process employs a hydraulic cutter-suction dredger, which pumps the sand-water mixture through a fish screen. The mixture flows through a series of berms, which separate the sand from the water, which is pumped back to the river. The sand is then distributed onshore. When the sand is in place, the project will replant it with buckwheat and two endangered plants. [3]
The species protected at Antioch Dunes are Lange's metalmark butterfly, the Antioch Dunes evening primrose, and the Contra Costa wallflower. [2] See the Lange's metalmark article for some background on the decline of the Antioch Dunes habitat prior to the formation of the Refuge. The number of metalmark butterflies has declined from 2,342 in 1999 to 45 in 2006. There were 78 in 2013. [3]
Antioch is the second largest city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. The city's population was 102,372 at the 2010 census and estimated to be 111,502 in 2019.
The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, or California Delta, is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California. The Delta is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and lies just east of where the rivers enter Suisun Bay. The Delta is recognized for protection by the California Bays and Estuaries Policy. Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta was designated a National Heritage Area on March 12, 2019. The city of Stockton is located on the San Joaquin River on the eastern edge of the delta. The total area of the Delta, including both land and water, is about 1,100 square miles (2,800 km2). Its population is around 500,000 residents.
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Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes is the largest remaining dune system south of San Francisco and the second largest in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses an 18-mile (29 km) stretch of coastline on the Central Coast of California and extends from southern San Luis Obispo County to northern Santa Barbara County.
Apodemia mormo langei, the Lange's metalmark butterfly, is an endangered North American butterfly. It is a subspecies of the Mormon metalmark and belongs to the family Riodinidae. The butterfly is endemic to California, where it is known from one strip of riverbank in the San Francisco Bay Area. A 2008 count estimated the total remaining population at 131 individuals. Since 2011, this number has dropped to about 25–30.
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The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge is a 2,553-acre (10.33 km2) protected area located along the Central Coast of California, in southern San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties.
Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii, the Antioch Dunes evening primrose, is an endangered subspecies of plant in the family Onagraceae, genus Oenothera, and species Oenothera deltoides.
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Gateway Generating Station (GGS), formerly Contra Costa Unit 8 Power Project, is a combined-cycle natural gas-fired power station in Contra Costa County, California, north of Antioch.