Many organizations in the Bay Area are  working to protect and restore tidal wetlands, which provide critical flood risk reduction, recreation, water quality improvement, and wildlife habitat. Yet there is still much to learn about how best to manage and restore these vital ecosystems. The WRMP improves the success of tidal wetland restoration by making monitoring more cost effective and producing data and analyses that meet wetland decision-makers’ needs.

The WRMP uses practical, collaboratively developed questions to guide wetland monitoring. These questions support informed, science-based decisions to promote healthier wetlands and a more resilient Estuary. To answer these questions, the WRMP established a Monitoring Site Network, which includes three wetland types— mature (Benchmark), evolving (Reference), and newly restored (Project) sites — to understand changes following restoration and guide better restoration practices. 

The WRMP has an open data sharing policy to ensure Bay Area residents, nonprofit organizations, academic institutes, Tribes, regulatory agencies and local governments can access scientific data to respond and adapt to environmental hazards and recurrent coastal flooding.

The WRMP’s mission is to deliver coordinated regional monitoring of the San Francisco Estuary’s wetlands to:

1. 1. Inform science-based decision-making for wetland restoration and adaptive management, and
   2. Increase the cost-effectiveness of permit-driven monitoring associated with wetland restoration projects.

The WRMP provides a critical regional framework for managing tidal wetlands by establishing:

• A regional standardized, publicly accessible database that includes data collected at a range of marsh types, from older reference marshes to newly restored marshes
• A common set of monitoring indicators and metrics

Coordinated regional monitoring of the Estuary’s tidal wetlands will provide:

• Answers to key questions about whether tidal wetlands are adapting to sea level rise to anticipate and mitigate impacts
• Answers to regionally (and collaboratively) developed management questions
• Data for decision makers that can be used to evaluate current restoration techniques, design new restoration approaches, and inform sediment management
• Data for scientists to validate conceptual models, understand site-specific data in a regional context, establish regional baselines, and assess regional and local patterns
• Opportunities to streamline the permitted monitoring required by regulatory agencies
• Measurement of progress toward and informing regional priorities, including meeting the Estuary’s goal of 100,000 acres of tidal marshes
• Greater efficiencies of scarce resources for wetland protection and restoration
• Increased public awareness of the importance of wetlands and restoration activities
• Enhanced collaboration and learning opportunities

The geographic scope of the WRMP encompasses the “complete” tidal marsh ecosystem, as defined by the 2015 Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Update. The complete tidal marsh ecosystem includes subtidal areas to a depth of 12 ft below local Mean Lower Low Water (zero tide height), tidal flats, fully tidal and muted tidal wetlands, and adjoining estuarine-terrestrial and estuarine-fluvial transition zones. The scope does not currently include managed wetlands, such as duck clubs in Suisun Marsh, or diked non-tidal wetlands within the historical limits of the San Francisco baylands.

To facilitate data analysis, interpretation, and management consistent with other regional monitoring efforts such as the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (Bay RMP), the geographic scope of the WRMP is divided into five subembayments including Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, Central Bay, South Bay, and Lower South Bay.

The WRMP also considers Operational Landscape Units (OLUs) when choosing monitoring sites and analyzing data, identified in the San Francisco Bay Shoreline Adaptation Atlas and modified for the WRMP. OLUs are contiguous areas of baylands and adjoining watersheds distinguished by their unique combination of geology, topography, precipitation, and estuarine conditions that, in general, are likely to respond in similar ways to external stressors. OLUs can serve as a natural spatial template at a scale between individual watersheds and subregions or counties for planning and assessing adaptation to sea level rise.

The San Francisco Estuary’s shorelines span twelve counties and encompass huge variation in physical setting, coastal flood risk to infrastructure and ecosystems, restoration opportunities, and potential benefits provided by restored and enhanced wetlands. Effective implementation of the WRMP requires close collaboration with numerous organizations including local cities and counties, community nonprofits, Tribal nations, regulatory agencies, and restoration practitioners. The WRMP is committed to building partnerships with these local organizations to ensure all Bay-Delta Estuary residents have access to the benefits healthy tidal wetlands provide, including clean water, open space, reduced flood risk, cultural resources, and habitat for fish and other wildlife. This approach to partnership touches all aspects of the Program including how it operates and collaborates, the information products, and how results are communicated.

The WRMP welcomes new partnerships with local organizations. Please reach out if you are interested in learning more: [email protected].