SFEI hosts and manages the California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM) website that features statewide support for CRAM data managment, training, documentation, and reporting tools to monitor and assess over seven kinds of wetlands using standardized rapid assessment protocols developed by the CRAM Steering Committee (Level-2 Committee) that was appointed by the California Wetland Monitoring Workgroup (CWMW). The Level-2 Committee meets quarterly to review and maintain CRAM's field manuals, training procedures, data management, and reporting tools. The L-2 Committee is chaired by a staff member from the State Water Board and includes wetland scientists and technical staff from state and federal agencies with regulatory or managmeent responsibility for the health of aquatic resources as well as from academia and other scientific organizations across the state. 

CRAM is a cost-effective and scientifically defensible rapid assessment method for monitoring and assessing the ecologcial conditions of wetlands throughout California. It takes less than half a day to assess a wetland area, and is designed evaluate the condition of the wetland based on its landscape setting, hydrology, physical structure and biological structure.  Because the methodology is standardized for over seven types of wetlands, ecological condition scores can be compared at the local, regional and statewide landscape scales.  

CRAM can also be used to assess the performance of compensatory mitigation projects and restoration projects. The easy-to-use, online data entry forms ensures that all of the appropriate site information and field data associated with CRAM assessments can be archived online and access by environmental managers, planners, and stakeholders to inform wetland managment and planning decisions. The ability to draw the CRAM assessment area online using an aerial image of the site, makes it easy for CRAM practitioners to enter their site information making it available on EcoAtlas (if allowed by the landowner).

Creation Date: 
Friday, January 22, 2016
Last Updated: 
Friday, January 22, 2016
Type of Data: 
GIS vector dataset
Programs and Focus Areas: 
Environmental Informatics Program
Geographic Information Systems
Resilient Landscapes Program
Wetland Monitoring & Assessment
Location Information
General Project Location(s): 
California
Data Availability
Terms of Use: 

CRAM data can be redistributed but not modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. You must maintain proper attribution of the data by citing the California Wetlands Monitoring Workgroup using the approved format.

CRAM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

More information about GNU General Public License is available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.SFEI data are available without restriction upon use with the following caveats. Prudent usage, knowledge of the data quality, and professional courtesy should all be considered in obtaining and using SFEI data. As this dataset is NOT a survey document, neither use it as such nor use it beyond the limits of the source scale. Please read and fully comprehend all available metadata prior to data use. SFEI requests that the use of these data in any map, publication, or report should include citation of the data source(s) used and give proper attribution and credit to the originators of the data. Questions about SFEI datamay be directed to the GIS Manager, at 510-746-7334.