Statewide Plastics Monitoring Plan & Strategy

Plastics, in their various chemical composition and sizes, pose serious challenges to the vitality of California's ecosystems. Once escaped into the environment, plastic contamination persists for very long periods and breaks down into ever smaller pieces, becoming more readily available to wildlife and populations who live, work, and play in those same habitats.

California Aquatic Resource Inventory (CARI) version 2.2 GIS Data

The California Aquatic Resources Inventory (CARI) is a Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset of wetlands, streams, and riparian areas consisting of polygon and line features that are standardized to a common wetland classification system.  This statewide dataset is hosted online through http://www.EcoAtlas.org, a web application specifically designed to provide wetland information, at variable landscape scales, to environmental scientists, managers and planners in support of the State’s Wetland and Riparian Area Protection Policy

Sediment Solutions

Sediment Solutions is a timely and innovative project that builds on SFEI’s past work, operationalizing cutting-edge science to inform management approaches that take advantage of natural processes to provide more creek sediment to baylands, increase climate resilience, and enhance creek health. With study areas in North Bay, East Bay, and South Bay, the project will provide new guidance for management strategies that support flood risk management and ecosystem health benefits throughout the region.

SFEI Individual Vernal Pools, 2023

This work was completed in 2023 and funded by the California Department of Transportation. Individual vernal pools were mapped within the Carol Witham complex polygons where high resolution lidar data was available, approximately 83% of the complex polygon area. SFEI attempted to map the remaining complex polygons without lidar data, however without lidar and high resolution time series data the results were not compelling enough to include in this final dataset. Data used to map pools included 3DEP high resolution lidar sourced from the years 2007 - 2022, NAIP 2018, and NAIP 2020.

New Ecology for Heath report forges tighter connections between human and ecological health

The same features in urban parks that support biodiversity can also benefit human health. Even biodiversity itself may help us — and the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) wants to see more of it. To that end, the nonprofit released an innovative report in September called Ecology for Health. It’s a practical guide for planners and designers to aid both biodiversity and human health in urban settings.

SFEI’s Dr. Kelly Moran Receives 2023 Teng-chung Wu Pollution Prevention Award


On October 8, 2023, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board presented the 2023 Teng-chung Wu Pollution Prevention Award to the Bay Area Pollution Prevention Group Pesticides Subcommittee. The award honors both the subcommittee and the staff who have led its activities. SFEI’s Dr. Kelly Moran helped found the subcommittee and led its work to prevent pesticides water pollution for more than a decade, turning over leadership to her associates Stephanie Hughes, and Tammy Qualls in 2021. 

New $3 million grant to support harmful algae monitoring in the San Francisco Estuary

NOAA recently announced that it is awarding a $3-million grant, through its Monitoring and Event Response Research Program (MERHAB) to support the development of a harmful algal bloom (HAB) monitoring program for the San Francisco Estuary. The project, led by scientists at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), US Geological Survey, and California Department of Water Resources (DWR), will leverage on-going research and monitoring activities in the Bay and Delta to build a robust system-wide HAB monitoring program for the Estuary.

Save the Bay: Climate Conversations-Greening our Cities

Join Save The Bay for Climate Conversations and learn how an innovative nature-based approach to stormwater management called green stormwater infrastructure can help cities prepare for the impacts of climate change while improving the health of the San Francisco Bay.

Ecology for Health

The Ecology for Health guide is based on an extensive review of ecological literature on the potential of cities to support native plants and wildlife, as well as research exploring the health benefits of access to biodiverse greenspace. Anyone making decisions about land use and urban design in cities across the world can benefit from the recommendations in this guide (including community-based organizations, local non-profits, local leaders and policymakers, city planners, urban designers, landscape architects, engineers, gardeners/horticulturists/arborists, residents, and landowners). 

Restoration Plan for the Laguna de Santa Rosa Completed!

SFEI completed a Restoration Plan for the Laguna de Santa Rosa in the Russian River watershed. SFEI, Sonoma Water, and the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation worked with technical advisors, stakeholders, tribal representatives, and local landowners to develop the Restoration Plan that provides a restoration planning framework and conceptual designs for  multi-benefit habitat restoration projects that support people and wildlife.

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