The Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program or WRMP is a broad, multi-organizational effort designed to produce coordinated and rigorous science about the baylands in the San Francisco Bay area. Through the power of diverse partnerships, a broad network of stakeholders are working rapidly to protect and restore wetlands that can provide flood protection, tribal, community and recreational benefits, water quality improvement, wildlife habitat, and other benefits for surrounding communities. To meet a regional target of 100,000 acres restored by 2030, close coordination is needed between managers, scientists, community groups, tribal partners, and regulators. However, this project-by-project approach to restoration monitoring has left our state, regional, and local decision makers effectively insensitive to the overall regional conditions that might bear direct influence over restoration success and failure. As the effects of climate change and sea level rise generate their own set of challenges, the WRMP will improve the success of wetland restoration projects by putting in place regionally coordinated monitoring that will increase the impact, utility and application of monitoring to inform adaptive management.
SFEI is proud to share that in recent years, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) has risen to be among SFEI’s highest priorities. DEIJ experts provided training to all staff in 2021, and thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor, we can translate that knowledge into real change. This initiative is led by our new Equity and Inclusion Manager, Stephanie Panlasigui, who is working closely with our DEIJ Committee and senior staff. Our first actions were to craft DEIJ mission and vision statements and create an action plan (in progress), which will enable us to better integrate DEIJ principles into our internal operations, partnerships, and projects. We look forward to providing more updates along our journey.
18 months of innovative data visualization to inform local, regional, and state public health departments.
SFEI’s Software Engineering Manager Gemma Shusterman led the development of a new data dashboard, designed to track the spread of COVID-19 in our region. With funding from the Catena Foundation, SFEI’s Environmental Informatics program supported the groundbreaking scientific genetic sequencing data produced by our close partner, the University of California’s Berkeley Water Center. Together, SFEI and the Berkeley Water Center matched science with technology to produce actionable, timely information in support of smart public health decisions.
The Delta Aquatic Resource Inventory (DARI) is a map of surface waters, wetlands and other aquatic resources in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. A similar mapping approach used to create the Bay Area Aquatic Resource Inventory (BAARI) was applied to complete a consistent map across the larger San Francisco Estuary. Both DARI and BAARI are integrated into the California Aquatic Resource Inventory (CARI), which serves as the basemap in EcoAtlas.
Delta Aquatic Resource Inventory (DARI) is a detailed base map of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's aquatic features that include wetlands, open water, streams, ditches, and tidal marshes. DARI was developed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and heads up digitizing, with true color imagery, LiDAR, and a suite of ancillary data sources to consistently map aquatic resources throughout the Delta. The draft GIS dataset was reviewed by regional wetland scientists and stakeholders to ensure it is accurate as possible.
Through an EPA-funded Wetland Development Grant, Permit Sonoma, County of Sonoma (County), in coordination with the Sonoma Ecology Center (SEC), the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), and a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), developed the Sonoma County Riparian Corridor Mapping Pilot Study (Pilot Study). The Pilot Study is Permit Sonoma’s initial step in the development of an automated GIS method to update its riparian mapping database countywide using LiDAR derived stream data.
SFEI will leverage its experience as a Regional Data Center for CEDEN to deliver a scientifically sound data management strategy and plan for the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake (HPUL) and the Lake County Watershed Protection District (District).
Having an accurate basemap is critical for monitoring and assessing our valuable habitats and supporting their restoration and protection. To assist with developing these important resources, USEPA has funded two mapping projects to develop basemaps in the Delta and Baylands.
The EcoAtlas Site Mitigation Tool (Mitigation Tool) can be used to prioritize, plan, and track aquatic habitat projects in the watershed context. The Mitigation Tool is specifically designed to support the Watershed Approach for compensatory mitigation planning and assessment called for in the State Water Resources Control Board Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State. The Mitigation Tool can also support permits administered by US Army Corps of Engineers and US Environmental Protection Agency, under section 404(b)(1) of the US Clean Water Act.
