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Image source: SFEP Files
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Monitoring Plan Update
The WRMP Monitoring Plan describes the short-term goals, approach and potential products of WRMP monitoring. The Monitoring Plan will include remote, rapid, and field-based monitoring to leverage previous science and help address science priorities such as tracking where our wetlands are, their condition and whether they are keeping pace with sea-level rise. Expected to be complete in December of 2023, the plan will stitch together the methods outlined in the SOPs to identify which pieces will be monitored where and how various elements will be correlated and connected. It also will identify the short-term monitoring priorities that the program can implement in the coming five years.
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Image source: Ariel Rubissow-Okamoto
WRMP Workgroups
Science workgroups have been moving forward, demonstrating leadership in the use of emerging technologies and linking indicators to the needs of multiple stakeholders (such as regulators and land managers). Each workgroup will develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for measuring different aspects of the Bay Area’s wetland health. To learn more about what SOPs are and their importance, please check out this WRMP Blog post on SOPs written by former SeaGrant Fellow Carmen Zamora.
Key updates from the technical workgroups:
People and Wetlands workgroup: The People & Wetlands Workgroup is meeting regularly to develop monitoring indicators that track benefits of wetlands to people, including equity in the distribution of benefits. The workgroup has identified a wide range of benefits, impacts, and other connections between people and wetlands, as well as big-picture Management Questions that the indicators will address. Upcoming work will focus on developing monitoring protocols and analyses that produce actionable data for decision-making.
Vegetation workgroup: The Vegetation Workgroup has been hard at work developing a Vegetation Monitoring Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that outlines the best practices for answering identified monitoring questions about vegetation at a regional scale. The SOP includes three components:
- Aerial imagery to track vegetation alliances remotely across the estuary.
- Field-based monitoring to track percent-cover of vegetation at a site-scale throughout the WRMP Monitoring Site Network, allowing us to compare Project Site vegetation cover to Benchmark and Reference Sites.
- A special-study at a subset of Benchmark Sites to track vegetation response across transition zones to anticipated rising sea-levels and other climate changes.
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Tribal Engagement
The WRMP and several partners have developed a brief guide on best practices for Tribal engagement to help guide our work, and the work of others in our networks, in ways that meaningfully engage Tribes. This document may be informative for partners developing proposals for scientific studies, working with Tribal data/information, and designing engagement processes. Special thanks to the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone for suggesting the creation of this document and reviewing it.
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Meet one of our People and Wetlands Working Group Co-facilitators, Denise Walker!
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Denise Walker is an Associate Environmental Scientist with the San Francisco Estuary Institute’s Resilient Landscapes Program, where she helps the team develop innovative, long-range, nature-based strategies to improve the health of our shorelines, cities, and rural areas.
What about the People and Wetlands Workgroup, or the WRMP more broadly, is most exciting for you?
Denise: My favorite aspect of being on the People and Wetlands Workgroup is the opportunity to engage with individuals from diverse professions and communities, and hearing their unique perspectives on wetlands. It creates a space for meaningful storytelling, active listening, and continuous learning.
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