Join us for a lunch webinar on March 20th, 2024, where Vanessa Lee (Associate Environmental Scientist), Karen Verpeet (Resilient Landscapes Program Managing Director), and Kelly Iknayan (Senior Scientist) will speak to members of the ASLA Northern CA Chapter about research, strategies, and projects at the intersection of science and landscape architecture.

The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) is excited to announce Laura Feinstein as the new Director of the Resilient Landscapes Program. Laura brings many years of experience at the science-policy interface and a love for the natural and urban communities of the San Francisco Bay Area and Delta region.  As Director, she will lead SFEI’s interdisciplinary Resilient Landscapes team of 30+ staff with an annual budget of over $5 million.

EcoAtlas is a mapping and geographic data visualization tool that continues to evolve to meet emerging needs. The toolset now includes new data layers and summaries to support the watershed planning, tracking, and reporting needs for the state. Within EcoAtlas, the Landscape Profile Tool provides easy access to summaries and data visualizations on watershed characteristics, ecological condition, habitat connectivity, and coastal habitats for an area of interest.

At the McCosker Creek Restoration site, 3,000 linear feet of creek channel that previously had been flowing through underground culverts since the 1950s was daylighted and reconstructed. In addition, invasive and non native plants were removed and replaced with over 5,000 native plants. The restoration was also designed to support erosion control, and provide habitat for wildlife and aquatic species including rainbow trout, California red-legged frog and the Alameda whipsnake. This restoration work began in 2020 and concluded in 2023.

Rainfall washes contaminants from urban landscapes to San Francisco Bay, degrading water quality. In the latest RMP Update, we highlight the findings of a major multi-year screening study to quantify hundreds of emerging contaminants in stormwater. Our investigation shows that urban stormwater runoff transports toxic chemicals including PFAS, flame retardants, plastic additives, auto tire chemicals, and many others, with concentrations often similar to discharges of municipal wastewater effluent. Further characterization of emerging contaminants in stormwater is a priority for future work.

The Laguna de Santa Rosa, an expansive freshwater wetland complex located in the Russian River watershed of Sonoma County, CA, is a vital ecological and cultural resource that has undergone considerable change over the past 150 years. Land conversion for agriculture and development have led to a decrease in habitat for native species within the Laguna and an increase in the delivery of streamflow, fine sediment, and nutrients to the Laguna.