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Valary K. Bloom

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Valary K. Bloom
Senior Consultant

Valary K. Bloom

Senior Consultant (415) 458-6715 Sacramento, CA vbloom@integral-corp.com

Ms. Valary Bloom is a plant and wildlife biologist with more than 30 years of experience working across public and private sectors. She served more than 24 years as a regulatory and ecosystem recovery planning specialist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Delta Field Offices.

During her time at USFWS, Ms. Bloom authorized, using streamlining project permitting tools where feasible, a wide range of multi-benefit restoration projects under Sections 7 and 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) involving improvements to flood protection, water quality and public recreation, as well as habitat restoration and enhancement actions for a variety of federally and state- listed species. Her role as author of the Recovery Plan for Tidal Marsh Ecosystems of Northern and Central California makes her uniquely qualified to guide project design aiming to restore estuaries and baylands using a climate resilient approach. She also served on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program, providing guidance related to the development of pre- and post-project monitoring frameworks.

Ms. Bloom is an experienced project manager and can communicate effectively with a diverse array of stakeholders. Her extensive experience in the regulatory realm positions her to advise and support clients in navigating state and federal mandates while achieving their project goals.

Planning and Permitting

Contra Costa County Lower Walnut Creek Restoration/Pacheco Marsh Public Access Project, Martinez, California Provided authorizations pursuant to Section 7 of the ESA, for enhancement and restoration of wetlands and riparian habitat along 4 miles of Walnut Creek to provide vital wildlife habitat and sustainable flood protection, and allow opportunities for public access and recreation.
City of Alameda’s De-Pave Park, Alameda, California Provided pre-application technical guidance, including review of draft design sets and adaptive management, maintenance, and monitoring plans, related to Section 7 of the ESA, for a proposed 12-acre ecological park involving removal of concrete to create a range of habitats, from subtidal and tidal to upland, as well as to provide public access amenities. The park will be designed for habitats to evolve as sea level rises to create additional tidal wetlands with continued public access from a raised boardwalk and connection to adjacent restored wetlands.
San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority’s Strategy to Advance Flood Control, Ecosystems and Recreation (SAFER) Project, Menlo Park and Palo Alto, California Provided pre-application technical guidance, including review of draft design sets and adaptive management, maintenance, and monitoring plans, related to Section 7 of the ESA to this large multi-benefit project, which will provide flood protection from bay tides and projected sea level rise through engineered and natural features that benefit the shoreline ecosystem and provide enhanced recreational opportunities. The project incorporates substantial habitat creation, enhancement, and management offsets to a myriad of state and federal threatened and endangered species and their habitats.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, Union City, California Provided pre-application technical guidance, including review of draft design sets and adaptive management, maintenance, and monitoring plans, related to Section 7 of the ESA for the restoration of more than 1,375 acres of tidal wetlands between Old Alameda Creek and the Alameda Creek Flood Control Channel; the possible addition of 400 acres of enhanced pond habitat; construction of innovative flood protection elements; and around 4 miles of new Bay Trail.
East Bay Regional Park District’s Restore Hayward Marsh Project, Hayward, California Provided pre-application technical guidance, including review of draft design sets and adaptive management, maintenance, and monitoring plans, related to Section 7 of the ESA for this multifaceted project aimed at conserving and enhancing the ecological benefits of Hayward Marsh. To ensure the marsh’s resilience to climate change, the project focuses on shoreline adaptation, levee improvements, upland habitat creation, wildlife habitat enhancement (including planning for shorebird habitat, which accommodates sea level rise over time), addition of public access/wildlife viewing, and community engagement.
McInnis Marsh Beneficial Dredge Sediment Reuse and Tidal Wetlands Restoration Project, San Rafael, California Provided pre-application technical guidance, including review of draft design sets and adaptive management, maintenance, and monitoring plans, related to Section 7 of the ESA for this project, which will restore up to 30 acres of diked wetlands and reverse subsidence across 140 acres of marsh. It will also involve the use of approximately 110,000 yd3 of clean dredge sediments from Gallinas Creek to support future tidal marsh habitat restoration and improve resilience to future sea level rise.
City of Palo Alto’s Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project, Palo Alto, California Provided authorizations pursuant to Section 7 of the ESA for this project to create a roughly 300 linear foot horizontal levee to serve multiple purposes, including habitat restoration, wastewater treatment, public access, and flood protection. Designed as a pilot study to gather data for future flood protection projects and to demonstrate the effectiveness of horizontal levees in nature-based solutions. The project utilized USFWS’s then-new streamlined permitting tool named the Programmatic Biological and Conference Opinion for the California Statewide Restoration Programmatic Consultation, greatly reducing permit processing times.
East Bay Dischargers Authority’s First Mile Project, Hayward, California Provided pre-application technical guidance, including review of draft design sets and adaptive management, maintenance, and monitoring plans, related to Section 7 of the ESA for this full-scale horizontal levee, intended as a demonstration site for other projects. The project builds on the concept developed at the Oro Loma Horizontal Levee demonstration site.

NRDA For Oil Spills

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Florida Assisted with oiled bird monitoring under the USFWS’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration program.

Casazza, M.L., C.T. Overton, T-V. D. Bui, J.M. Hull, J.D. Albertson, V.K. Bloom, S. Bobzien, J. McBroom, M. Latta, P. Olofson, T.M. Rohmer, S. Schwarzbach, D.R. Strong, E. Grijalva, J.K. Wood, S.M. Skalos, and J. Takekawa. 2016. Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: Finding the common ground. Ecology and Society 21:1.

Thorne, K.M., B.J. Mattsson, J. Takekawa, J. Cummings, D. Crouse, G. Block, V. Bloom, M. Gerhart, S. Goldbeck, B. Huning, C. Sloop, M. Stewart, K. Taylor, and L. Valoppi. 2015. Collaborative decision-analytic framework to maximize resilience of tidal marshes to climate change. Ecology and Society 20:1.

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