As one of the largest brackish wetlands on the West Coast, Suisun Marsh is a unique transitional landscape between San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Suisun Marsh has long been managed for recreational hunting and native biodiversity, yet it is threatened by an uncertain future under climate change. Sea level rise and increasing salinity pose significant threats to the current structure and uses of the Marsh. Likely impacts include conversion of wetlands to open water, changes in species composition, increased flood risk, and drainage challenges in managed wetlands.  A functioning marsh that supports fish, waterfowl, recreation, and other functions of interest into the future will need effective adaptation planning and coordination among landowners, resource managers, Tribes, and other people who use the Suisun landscape. 
 

To facilitate and support these efforts, the Suisun Landscapes project developed tools and information for adaptation planning in Suisun, including spatially explicit representations of the historical function and condition of the Marsh, priority features and functions for human use, an assessment of change over time, and new analysis functions in the Landscape Scenario Planning Tool (LSPT). This project builds on SFEI’s prior work in the Delta including foundational historical ecology and landscape change studies that have been successful in supporting large-scale planning. By expanding this body of work to Suisun, the Suisun Landscapes project provides a comparable set of management planning tools for a resilient and vibrant future Suisun Marsh.
 

Project objectives: 

• Building on reconnaissance-level mapping completed in 2021, generate a spatially explicit and quantitative understanding of Suisun’s historical ecology, using in-depth analysis of primary sources.
• Understand community priorities for Suisun Marsh and foster dialogue and buy-in through the process of co-developing planning resources to include current uses of the landscape and perceived future challenges.
• Evaluate how the ability of the Suisun landscape to support desired ecosystem functions and services has changed over time, and lay the foundation of knowledge to evaluate opportunities to restore lost function.
• Support landscape planning and design in Suisun by developing spatially explicit scenario analysis tools (new and updated LSPT analyses) that draw from information on historical ecology, community priorities, and past landscape changes.
• Make information on Suisun historical ecology, environmental history, landscape change, and community priorities accessible to a broad community.