This is a two-year project to create an EcoAtlas user community for the Lahontan region of the Sierra Nevada to: (1) develop capacities within the region to apply EcoAtlas through existing local, regional, state, and federal programs to track projects and summarize map-based and rapid assessment information at the watershed scale; (2) transfer EcoAtlas to capable users in the region through handson training; (3) evaluate the efficacy of EcoAtlas for planning, restoring, and protecting wetlands and other aquatic resources in the region; (4) identify constraints and opportunities for ongoing regional use of EcoAtlas; (5) recommend institutional arrangements within the region to serve as a regional EcoAtlas clearinghouse; and (6) summarize lessons learned from this project that can be applied to other regional efforts to implement EcoAtlas.

This project will evaluate EcoAtlas applications currently being created through other state and federal grants to remotely map wetland projects and upload wetland information, plan riparian buffers, and generate automated profiles of wetland condition in a watershed context. The outputs from this project will have stand-alone benefits, but will also support separate but related proposals to develop a business plan for EcoAtlas and to determine the feasibility of Phase 2 of the California Wetland and Riparian Area Protection Policy.

Dates: 
2014 to 2016
Tobi Tyler, LRWQCB
Ken Kasman, TRPA
Jacques Landy, USEPA
Jared Vollmer, USEPA
Programs and Focus Areas: 
Environmental Informatics Program
Wetland Monitoring & Assessment
Location Information
General Project Location(s): 
Lake Tahoe