EcoAtlas: A Technology Tool for Wetland Protection and Management

Data Management WorkgroupJune 6, 2012

Meredith Williams meredith@sfei.orgCristina Grosso cristina@sfei.org

Questions for today

• What are the wetland protection information needs?• How would an EcoAtlas meet those needs?• How does an EcoAtlas relate to other available tools

and initiatives?• Where are we now?• How do we move forward?

WRAMPWhat is WRAMP supposed to do?

• Answer the question: where are the wetlands and riparian areas and what are their conditions? condition & extent

Why is WRAMP needed (what are the statutory or policy drivers)? • EPA requests that 305b Integrated Reports include wetlands condition• State No-Net-Loss Policy requires State of the State’s Wetlands Report change• WAPP requires effectiveness monitoring program effectiveness• A watershed/landscape approach is integral to Section 404(b)(1) and WAPP program effectiveness

Q: How Does EcoAtlas support WRAMP?WRAMP requires the following:

– Track ambient wetland and riparian extent, and condition , and change– Track and assess the effectiveness of 401/WDR and LSA activities – Support the Watershed/Landscape Approach to mitigation planning under

404/401 and its alignment with planning under ESA/CESA

EcoAtlas works by accepting, formatting, and delivering data to support watershed and landscape planning, protection and effectiveness monitoring.

– Landscape context through habitat tracking– Project Tracking– Condition information with landscape context– Integration of data and information at the watershed/landscape scale

A: EcoAtlas serves as the WRAMP User Interface

EcoAtlasEcoAtlas supports coordinated planning and reporting of local, state and federal activities at the landscape and watersheds scales

• Local: General and Master Plans, flood control plans, water supply plans, local ordinances, LID

• State: THPs, NCCP, State of the State’s Wetland Report, NPDES and 401/WDR and 1600 tracking

• Federal: Integrated Reporting, HCP, Category 4b Watershed Plans

Identifying and targeting the correct audience/end user is keyMake sure the User Interface meets user needs

The approach so farWetland Tracker has been evolving to provide access to information and tools for aquatic resources (primarily wetlands) for targeted user communities: scientists, regulators, managers, practitioners

Project/Administrative info

Habitat data- Wetlands and other

surface waters (CARI)- Riparian areas - Vegetation (VegCAMP,

CalVeg, eelgrass)- Land cover and land

use (USGS, ABAG, etc.)

Condition Data

Information accessible through Tracker falls into three broad areas

Technology stack

• Open Layers• PostgreSQL with PostGIS• CRAM database PostgreSQL

EcoAtlas

Project/ Administrative

info

Habitat layers

Condition Data

EcoAtlas as a tool to meet Policy Development, Aquati c Resource Planning, Tracking and Reporti ng Needs

Output

Policy development• Stream & wetland protection• Local ordinances • WAPP• Biological objectives

Output

Planning tools• General plan • Master plans• Flood control plans• HCPs/NCCP• Mitigation and

restoration plans• Scenario planning

visualization toolsOutput

Tracking and reporting • 1600 activities and effects• 401/WDR activities and effects• Integrated Reports• No net loss summaries• MWQ Portals content• State of the State’s Wetlands

Potenti al EcoAtlas outputs Outputs can integrate across all three categories of information. Outputs can be viewable or downloadable.

No net loss reporting• Past aquatic resources• Current aquatic resources• Impact of permitted activities• Net change results• Mitigation analysis

Stream Ordinance• Stream location• Riparian extent• LSA/1600 activity

EcoAtlas

Project/ Administrative

info

Habitat layers

Condition Data

MWQ Portals• Indicator synthesis• Aquatic resources

spatial summariesHCP• Aquatic Resources summary• CNDDB species list• Ongoing restoration projects• Condition information

Output

OutputOutput

Output

Technology building blocks

• Atlas both serves data as a local host and uses web services to make non-hosted data available

• Spatial queries are critical to meaningful aggregation of information

• APIs and web services give us flexibility to bring information together

• User engagement, user engagement, user engagement

Data exchanges: Atlas exchanges data with existing infrastructure

Online 401

Applicant input

CIWQS

SWRCB Program Administration

EcoAtlas

Project

Habitat

Condition

Watershed context

Online 401 tool to manage wetland permitting process

EcoAtlas

Data exchanges: Atlas exchanges data with existing infrastructure

MWQ Portal

Wetland Protection

Wetland Extent

Wetland Condition

CEDEN

EcoAtlas as data source – spatial information

EcoAtlas as data harvester – water quality information

EcoAtlas

Project/Administrative info401 permitted projects in

Spatial data- Eelgrass surveys- BAARI- NWI and NHD- Historical baylands

Condition DataCRAM (not hosted)

EcoAtlas: Current content

Wetland Trackerwhat’s in development

Selection of Layers to be displayed

Display of Habitat and Project Spatial Layers

Habitat, CRAM, & Projects displayed

Zoomed for Tool Use

Selection of Landscape Profile Tool

Basin Delineation using USGS StreamStats tool

Catchment drainage point selection

Landscape Profile Summary pt. 1

Landscape Profile Basin Summary pt. 2

Landscape Profile Basin Summary pt. 3

Maps Drive EcoAtlas

No net loss reporting• Past aquatic resources• Current aquatic resources• Impact of permitted activities• Net change results• Mitigation analysis

Stream Ordinance• Stream location• Riparian extent• LSA/1600 activity

EcoAtlas

Project/ Administrative

info

Habitat layers

Condition Data

MWQ Portals• Indicator synthesis• Aquatic resources

spatial summariesHCP• Aquatic Resources summary• CNDDB species list• Ongoing restoration projects• Condition information

Output

OutputOutput

Output

EcoAtlas content is spatial content

Spatial layers

California Aquatic Resources InventoryCARI

• The common map is needed– CARI v.0 = best available September– CARI v.1 = data that meet standards

• Standardized across the state, but accommodating regional differences

• Flexible enough to meet different requirements (e.g., EcoAtlas vs. MWQ Portal)

EcoAtlas development tenets

• Don’t host everything• Target the end users• CWMW to provide oversight and funding

Development PrioritiesTop tier• CARI• Richer Landscape Profiles tools• Intensive assessment (Level 3) data – (from

CEDEN)

Next tier• Data exchanges & web services• Additional spatial layers

September tool release

1. Wetland Tracker rebranding as EcoAtlas with– Landscape profiles– CARI v. 0– Improved CRAM data display

2. New My Water Quality Wetlands Portal3. New CRAM database and online interface