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Program Information

Program Overview:

The watershed program at SFEI was founded in 1998 to assist local and regional environmental management and the public to understand, characterize and manage environmental resources in the watersheds of the Bay Area. Our niche occupies a midpoint between universities, private consulting, regulatory and environmental management authorities, and the public. Most of our projects are carried out collaboratively with other scientists or technical managers from universities, private consulting firms, agencies, or local environmental groups. We often work with field volunteers and local community or place based environmental groups. We help local groups to build capacity, passing on methods and philosophies, and increasing the scientific validity of their work and we often assist them with grant writing. During 2002, our partners included the Sulphur Creek Watershed Task Force, Carneros Creek Stewardship, San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center, Petaluma Watershed Foundation, EPA, the State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards, local Counties, Resource Conservation Districts, museums, BASMAA agencies, the Clean Estuary Partnership, U.S. Geological Survey, California Department of Fish and Game and several universities. In 2003 we aim to continue to provide local environmental managers and the public with quality scientific data and interpretation through the implementation of projects in the four main program areas of investigation:

  • Water quality, sediment and pollutant loads
  • Geomorphology, habitat analysis and bioassessment
  • Historical landscape ecology, stream form and function and change through time
  • GIS and mapping


Program Objectives:

The Watershed Program at SFEI provides Bay Area environmental managers with quality science information in the context of the whole system (watersheds, the airshed, wetlands, and the Bay). Our intent is to help develop a regional picture of watershed condition and downstream effects through a solid foundation of literature review and peer-review and the application of a range of quality science methodologies, empirical data collection and interpretation in watersheds around the Bay Area.


Program History:

The Watershed Program at SFEI was begun in 1998 with a collection of projects that aimed to quantify the past, present and landscape change through time of water and sediment process in small Bay Area watersheds impacted by human influences. In February 2000, Lester McKee was hired to manage the program and develop it to it full potential. Since that time, the program and projects have expanded and diversified from a focus on water and sediment and historical ecological landscape change to include water quality and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and mapping.



Recent Findings:

During 2002 we completed a number of important projects, some examples of which follow. An analysis of geomorphic processes in the context of beneficial uses on Soda Creek in the Napa River watershed confirmed that Soda Creek is still currently a habitat for steelhead. We made recommendations to reduce factors that are current limiting this and other beneficial uses in Soda Creek. We completed an analysis of existing storm drain information in the Bay Area as a tool for improving the understanding of the movement of water, sediment and contaminants from local watersheds to the Bay. Our analysis suggested that a coordinated effort of improved storm drain mapping would be beneficial for a range of uses but that issues of current data quality and availability and the costs of improving mapping currently outweigh the benefits. We recommended regional and institutional support for the storm drain mapping effort that Oakland Museum is coordinating as the best method of improved mapping. We assisted Solano County in a technical advisory role during the development of their Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP) / Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), which is being prepared by the Solano County Water Agency and other applicants. SFEI’s contribution included a series of general philosophies and very specific recommendations on necessary but currently lacking baseline data form maintaining and enhancing native and endangered plant, animal and fish species in Solano County.