Josh Collins, Ph.D. San Francisco Estuary Institute Aquatic Science Center A Vision of Watershed Monitoring and Assessment

Natural resource regulation and management will be watershed-based. Watershed-based regulation and management will lead to watershed designs (re-engineered drainage systems coupled to land use BMPs). Watershed designs will be assessed based on watershed monitoring. Monitoring results will be used to adjust watershed designs.

Regulation and Planning Are Aiming at Watersheds TMDLs 404(b)(1) Guidelines SWRCB Wetland and Riparian Area Protection Policy RB2 Stream and Wetlands System Protection Policy IRWMP, NCCP, HCP, LCC, Measure W Watersheds BCDC Bay Area Regional Sediment Management Plan A partial list

Some Impending Regulatory and Management Questions for Watersheds How do we manage floods, protect water quality, support wildlife, and meet demands for indigenous water supplies? What is the condition of our watersheds, what are the net changes in aquatic resources, and what are the effects of regulatory and management actions? How do we deal with the uncertainties of climate change?

Wetland and Riparian Area Monitoring Program WRAMP What does WRAMP mean? “Wetland” and “Riparian” are code words for “Watershed.” Getting to answers

Ambient Assessment Project Assessment Proposed Monitoring Framework Track Ambient Change Assess Policies, Programs, Projects Level 1: Map-based Inventories and Watershed Profiles Management Questions and Concerns Standard State Definitions, Classification, Mapping, Delineation Updates NHD and NWI Level 2: Rapid Assessment of Overall Condition Level 3: Intensive Assessment of Selected Aspects of Condition, Stress, or Function Definition, delineation, classification, and mapping protocols for streams, wetlands, deepwater, aquatic support area, riparian Bay Area Aquatic Resource Inventory (BAARI) Ca Rapid Assessment Method for Wetlands and Riparian Areas (CRAM) e.g., macroinvertebrate and algae IBIs; stream geomorphology metrics, etc. CEDEN /Regional Data Center

Example Level 1 map Miles of Channel16.2 Natural:12.5 Artificial:3.7 Acres of Riparian:45.4 Acres of Wetland90.2 Slope52.4 Depressions13.1 Lacustrine0.0 Estuarine14.9

Slope Riverine Depression Level 2 (CRAM) Project Assessment

Map of the Survey Points Level 2 Ambient Assessment

Local Watershed Condition Scores Percent of Cases Statewide ambient riverine-riparian condition Median Score = 67Median Score = 74 Condition of Projects Relative to Each Other, Reference Condition, and Ambient Condition

Design (wetlands restored) Modern (wetlands destroyed) Historical (lots of wetlands) Time of Year Flow (CFS) Status of Hydrology Annual Hydrograph

In Summary … WRAMP supports planning, assessing, and monitoring of projects and ambient condition relative to each other, based on three watershed signatures. Acres Diversity of aquatic resources (Level 1) Type of Resource Status of projects relative to reference sites and ambient condition (Level 2) Status of hydrology or other Level 3 indicators of upstream conditions

The Regional Data Center features “trackers” and “portals” to track regulatory and management actions, to assess their effects on watershed profiles, and to communicate with the public.

A remaining challenge is to learn how to effectively insert monitoring and assessment results into regulatory, planning, and management decisions. This is about getting the questions right, getting the data that most cost-effectively answer the questions, and packaging the answers to fit decision frameworks.

Thank You