Marin County Watershed Stewardship Program Marin County Department of Public Works

Countywide Watershed Program The watershed program provides a framework to integrate flood protection, creek and wetland restoration, fish passage and water quality improvements with public and private partners to protect and enhance Marin’s watersheds.

Why A Watershed Approach? Why now? We have momentum and support from our partners and the County. The issues identified by the community aren’t going away so this program allows us to be ready when the economy recovers and new funding programs come on line. Supports and guides protection and enhancement of significant natural resources Ensures alignment with State and Federal resource agency goals which should support timely project implementation Leverages funding to attract State and Federal sources Dedicates staff to search for and pursue funding

Policy Advisory Committee: BOS FC District Rep City Council Reps Flood Zone Advisory Board Reps Water and Sanitary Board Reps Technical Working Group: Municipal Directors Local, State & Federal Agency Reps Watershed Groups Homeowner’s Association Reps Operations and Finance Committee: City Managers & County DPW Director Stakeholder Process Board of Supervisors Flood Control and Water Conservation District

Objectives Provide an increased level of flood protection Reduce on-going maintenance costs and impacts Develop projects that provide multiple benefits i.e restoration and flood protection Ability to permit as a self-mitigating project Respond to sea level rise Opportunities to improve ecological benefits Ability to meet multiple partner agency objectives

Next Steps Continued improvements to the website Watershed-level planning Habitat Assessments Hydrology and Hydraulics studies Watershed Master Plans Continued review of grants and other funding opportunities

Habitat Assessment 2009 Fish and Game creek assessments Goal is to translate their data into an informative and accessible manner Spatial or GIS analysis is the tool Fish passage barriers Pipelines and other infrastructure Storm drain system Restoration opportunities Habitat features Flow history and stream persistence Other relevant information

Hydrology and Hydraulics Collecting field data including topography, rainfall, stream flow, and sediment transport Using the field data, a model is developed to show: How water moves in the creek Water depth outside the creek How will the model be used? Representation of past and predicted storms Depict the footprint and elevation of flood waters Show the benefit of any proposed alternative Can be altered to include new information in the future

Hydrologic model development Model is a predictive tool to test the effectiveness of various flood control measures 1700 cfs 5,400 cfs

H & H Study outcomes Understanding of the flood benefit and estimated cost for all proposed projects. Clear understanding of the current flood impacts for a series of storm events Model will be a tool that quantifies the flood impact Shows the extent and depth of flooding before and after for a given alternative or a suite of alternatives Can be adapted for future conditions

For more information contact: Liz Lewis, Principal Planner Chris Choo, Senior Planner