How healthy is your watershed?Indicators and Performance Measures for

the North Bay

Kat RidolfiSan Francisco Estuary Institute

NBWA Board MeetingApril 3, 2009

Outline

• Background• Purpose• Previous indicators work • Scope of NBWA Indicators project• Indicator/performance measure selection and

organization• Draft indices • Expected applications• Next Steps

Background

Indicators v. Performance Measures

0

5

10

15

20

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Pro

jec

ts Im

ple

men

ted

100

80

60

40

20Wat

ersh

ed h

ealth

(%

of

targ

et)

Time

Resource Mgt. Objectives

Assessment Questions

Data Requirements

Current Data Collection Activities

Recommended Indicators

Protect receiving waters from pollution to comply with current and future water quality regulations and maintain healthy aquatic systems

What areas are

at greatest risk? Land use/cover,

Hydrology

Historic land use practices

Waste discharge locations

Soil erodibility

IBI

Toxicity tests

Basic water quality parameters

Septic tank locations

Benthic macroinvertebrate sampling

Basic water quality parameter sampling

Sediment loading analysis

Benthic community abnormalities

Sediment source analysis, trends, and transport processes

The Bay Institute’s Scorecard

Watershed Assessment

Framework (WAF) BioticBiotic

Hydrology Hydrology GeomorphologyGeomorphology

Natural Natural DisturbanceDisturbance RegimensRegimens

Socio-Socio-EconomicEconomic

LandscapeLandscape

EcologicalEcologicalProcessesProcesses

ChemicalChemical PhysicalPhysical

Napa/Sonoma Scorecard

Project Partners

• San Francisco Estuary Institute

• The Bay Institute

• Sonoma Ecology Center

• Marin County Public Works

• Napa County Planning

Project Schedule

Item # Item Date 1 Dataset Review October-November

2008 2 Technical Working Group Meeting #1 November 2008 3 Draft glossary submitted to NBWA December 2008 4 Technical Working Group Meeting #2 February 2009 5 Presentation to NBWA Board and

progress summary April 2009

6 Outreach to indicator end-users April-J une 2009 7 Stakeholder Workshop J une 2009 8 Draft Report to NBWA for comments August 2009 9 Final Report submitted to NBWA October 2009

Framework

• NBWA Categories– Water Supply– Water Quality– Habitat Enhancement– Recreation and Public Education– Flood Protection

Identifypotential

indicators

Choose indicators

Goals and Objectives

What do you strive for in the system?

Indicator Criteria

Previous Work

Criteria• Valid?• Understandable?• Available ?

Criteria based on EPA handbook on Indicators for Estuarine Health

Index

Indicators or Performance Measures

Metrics

Draft North Bay Indices

Habitat Enhancement

Water Supply

Recreation and Public

EducationFlood

ProtectionWater

QualityFish index Precipitation Recreational Support

Flood hazardsWater Quality Standards

Bird index Climate Education PromotionInnovative and integrated stormwater and flood management

Stream alteration

Invertebrate index Streamflow Watershed runoff Pollutant reduction

Riparian Habitat Groundwater Floodplain protectionMonitoring and Assessment

Habitat RestorationWater independence

Pesticide and herbicides use

Water use Invertebrate index

Floodplain Protection IndexIndicator

Development in floodplain

Setback protectionFloodplain protection

NBWA Objective

PM or I? PM both I

Metrics

square feet of structures in FEMA floodplain (sq feet/area of floodplain)

Average width structures setback from streams; % of projects that meet setback requirements during planning process

% of FEMA 100 yr floodplain zoned for compatible uses

Rating

Tier 1 1 1

Protect and preserve natural flood plains

Water Quality Standards IndexIndicator Bacteria

Physical water quality

NBWA Objective

PM or I? I I

Metricse.coli, fecal coliform concentrations

continuous temperature, flow, DO, TSS, conductivity

RatingTier 2 1

Protect receiving waters from pollutionProtect the quality of surface and

groundwater drinking supplies

Calculate and Score

metrics

Reference Conditions and Scoring

• Identify reference conditions (upper lower, intermediate)

• Determine scoring scale

Multi-metricIndex

Index• Aggregation

• Weighting

Index

Indicators or Performance Measures

Metrics

SCORECARD

Index

Indicators or Performance Measures

Metrics

Index

Indicators or Performance Measures

Metrics

Index

Indicators orPerformance Measures

Metrics

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

Outreach including subcommittee meetings

April-early June

North Bay Watershed Council meeting

June 25 (tentative)

Draft Report August 2009

Final Report October 2009

Questions?

Contact Information

Kat Ridolfi

SFEI

kat@sfei.org

(510) 746-7392