Making North Coast 401 Certified Caltrans Projects Available on EcoAtlas

This project enhanced access to watershed assessment data by making 401 certified Caltrans projects and maps, from the North Coast, available online through EcoAtlas. EcoAtlas is an online data visualization tool that enables users to view the abundance, distribution, diversity, and condition of aquatic resources on a common map, along with the projects that are affecting these resources. 

This project demonstrated and advanced access and visualization capacity in the North Coast by using existing online data management and visualization tools to map 401 certified projects. By uploading 36 mitigation projects into Project Tracker and displaying them on EcoAtlas, users will be able to identify where and what type of habitats are in their watershed and will help them determine what can be preserved, protected, or restored. Several tools will be available to users through EcoAtlas including generating project information pages, Landscape Profile reports for an area of interest, and Habitat Development Curves (HDCs) to help guide the management and design of projects.

While this project focused on entering projects that were certified in the past five years, future phases could continue to map more recent 401 certified projects. This project also conducted two webinar trainings and outreach to stakeholders in the North Coast Region on using EcoAtlas. This work was funded by CalTrans and benefits local planners, project proponents, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), restoration practitioners, and the public.

A list of uploaded projects is available on the Caltrans 401 Projects Group page and a webinar recording on using EcoAtlas for project tracking can be viewed here.