After 13 years of planning and building, the Hester Marsh Restoration Project had its unofficial “ribbon-cutting” moment over the weekend of Nov. 15-17. Project researchers, managers and volunteers gathered at the marsh on the edge of Elkhorn Slough to observe how the newly completed marsh interacted with water seeping in with the King Tides. The key question: Were the final plans for the marsh designed at the correct elevation? If the marsh was built to plan, observers should see the water at high tide cover the marsh’s surface – only slightly. And at 9:35am on Friday, Nov. 15, that is exactly what they observe.