How healthy is your watershed?
Indicators and Performance Measures for
the North Bay
Kat Ridolfi
San Francisco Estuary Institute
North Bay Watershed Council Meeting
June 25, 2009
Outline
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Background
Purpose
Previous indicators work
Scope of NBWA Indicators project
Indicator/performance measure selection and
organization
Draft indices
Expected applications
Next Steps
Background
Indicator Terms
• Goal: Protect and enhance aquatic, riparian,
and upland habitats.
• Objective: Protect threatened and endangered
species population and improve watershed
health
• Index: Fish index
• Indicator: Salmonid populations
• Metric: total smolt production
• Performance measure: % of target smolts
returning to native streams
• Target: 100 smolts per tributary
Indicators v. Performance
Measures
Projects Implemented
20
15
10
5
0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Watershed health (% of target)
100
80
60
40
20
Time
Past work to Build On
• SFEI’s Report on Monitoring Approaches
(2007)
• The Bay Institute’s Scorecard (2003,
2005)
• Bay-Delta and other WAF projects
(ongoing)
• Napa-Sonoma Water Supply Scorecard
Project Partners
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San Francisco Estuary Institute
The Bay Institute
Sonoma Ecology Center
Marin County Public Works
Napa County Planning
Project Schedule
Item #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Item
Dataset Review
Technical Working Group Meeting #1
Draft glossary submitted to NBWA
Technical Working Group Meeting #2
Presentation to NBWA Board and
progress summary
Outreach to indicator end-users
NBWC Meeting #1
Draft Report to NBWA for comments
Final Report submitted to NBWA
Date
October-November
2008
November 2008
December 2008
February 2009
April 2009
April-July 2009
June 2009
September 2009
November 2009
Framework
• NBWA Categories
– Water Supply
– Water Quality
– Habitat Enhancement
– Recreation and Public Education
– Flood Protection
Goals and
Objectives
What do you strive for in
the system?
Previous
Work
Identify
potential
indicators
Indicator
Choose
indicators
Criteria
Criteria
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Valid?
Understandable?
Available ?
Manageable?
Index
Indicators or
Performance Measures
Metrics
Draft
North Bay Indices
Habitat
Enhancement
Recreation
Water Supply and Public Education
Flood
Protection
Water Quality
Fish index
Climate Context Recreational Support
Innovative and
integrated
water quality
stormwater and
standards
flood management
Bird index
Streamflow
Watershed runoff
Riparian Habitat
Habitat Restoration
Storage
Water use
Education Promotion
Floodplain
protection
Pollutant
reduction
Invertebrate
index
Floodplain Protection
Index
Indicator
Innovative and
Innovative and integrated
integrated
stormwater and flood
stormwater and
management implementation
flood management
Metrics
volume of stormwater naturally
treated (vs. sent to stormwater
system)
Watershed runoff
Impervious area
% Impervious (total) area for
wshed
Floodplain
protection
Floodplain protection
% of FEMA 100 yr floodplain
zoned for compatible uses
Water Quality
Index
water quality
standards
Invertebrate
index
Pollutant
reduction
Indicator
Physical water
quality
Metrics
continuous
temperature,
DO, TSS,
conductivity
Stream BMIs
BMI Protocol
pollutant load
TMDL
reduced through
implementation
TMDL project
implementation
Recreation and Public Education
Index
Indicator
Education
Promotion
Level of online outreach
Education
Promotion
Level of community
involvement in watershed
mgmt. & restoration
Recreational
Support
Recreational Experience
Metrics
Web activity; e.g. # of
watershed related events
posted, monthly visitor "hits"
on NBWA or NBWC website
Number of community
members involved in
restoration or watershed
education projects e.g. creek
clean ups; # participants for
docent-led hikes
"user group experience", e.g.
number days/hours of active
trail or waterways (user
groups and or individuals)
Habitat Enhancement
Index
Indicator
Metrics
Fish index
Salmonid Population
Total smolt production
Bird index
Christmas Bird Counts
# of species, total count
CRAM
Several metrics to assess wetland
integrity, including: 1) Buffer and
Landscape Context 2) Hydrology 3)
Physical Structure and 4) Biotic
Structure
Riparian Habitat
Upland Restoration
Bayland Restoration
Freshwater Wetland Restoration
Habitat Restoration
Stream/Riparian Restoration
Fish Passage
area treated; ratio of contemporary to
historic or target area
linear feet treated; ratio of
contemporary to historic or target
area
linear feet opened up for fish
passage; ratio of contemporary to
historic or target area
Water Supply
Climate context
Streamflow
Storage
Cumulative precipitation
departure from average in
local and imported
watersheds
Cumulative annual departure from
long-term average in graphic form
actual ET
actual evapotranspiration
Total discharge (vol) July-Oct or 7day min avg flow at gage (cfs)
well measurements for spring and
Seasonal groundwater levels
fall
% of target surface storage (may
Surface storage
separatehuman and instream use)
Baseflow
Water Use
Water independence
per-capita imported supply
Water use
Residential per capita water
use
Total residential water use per capita
Water use
Water savings
Estimated water savings due to
recycling and conservation measures
Index
Index
Index
Indicators or
Performance Measures
Indicators or
Performance Measures
Indicators or
Performance Measures
Metrics
Metrics
Metrics
SCORECARD
North Bay Applications
• Watershed Plans
• Stormwater Programs
• Implementation projects in a
watershed(e.g. bank stabilization, flood
control, vegetation)
• Regional planning efforts
Next Steps
Task
Date
Continuing outreach and June-July
accepting comments
Next North Bay
September?
Watershed Council
meeting
Draft Report
September200
9
Final Report
November
2009
Questions?
Contact Information
Kat Ridolfi
SFEI
kat@sfei.org
(510) 746-7392