The Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) is convening stakeholders from a broad range of backgrounds and expertise to plan and implement a regional monitoring program for wetlands and streams in the Bay Area and the Delta.
The Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) is convening stakeholders from a broad range of backgrounds and expertise to develop a regional monitoring program plan for wetlands in the Bay Area. This program will help to implement Action 2 in the Estuary Blueprint, and will help local, regional, state, and federal agencies evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to sustain healthy aquatic habitats and resources.
April 2, 2020 – WRMP Plan Released
The Wetland Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) Plan for the San Francisco Estuary is now complete! Read the full plan here. Read the Project Summary Handout here.
The WRMP will improve wetland restoration project success by putting in place regional-scale monitoring increasing the impact, utility and application of permit-driven monitoring to inform science-based decision-making. Once in place, the WRMP will be a robust, science-driven, collaborative regional monitoring program that includes: a) Monitoring site network; b) Open data sharing platform; c) Comprehensive science framework.
The WRMP Plan lays the foundation for the development of this program. The next steps include determining the funding model and governance structure, developing the data management system, conducting outreach to the intended user community, and establishing a Technical Advisory Committee in Summer 2020.
The Plan is the result of 2 years of work from a committed group of regulators, scientists and restoration practitioners. Upcoming program development focuses on determining the funding model and governance structure, developing the data system, conducting outreach to the intended user community, and establishing a Technical Advisory Committee in Summer 2020.
WRMP Plan Resources
February 28, 2020 — The WRMP Cost Analysis is now available. Costs were estimated to advance science content development into Phase 2 and inform the funding amount required for program start up and initial data collection (i.e. science content and administration and governance components). The data management component is also being developed in Phase 2 and those costs are not included in this analysis.
December 15, 2019 — The December 2019 issue of Estuary News covered the State of the Estuary Conference session “From Regional to Local: Integrated Monitoring for Healthy Wetlands”, which highlighted the WRMP and multiple collaborators, in the article Coordinated Monitoring Will Hasten Wetland Recovery by Robin Meadows.
Steering Committee Meetings: Last Tuesday of every other month, 10am-1pm, Redwood Room, Bay Area Metro Center, San Francisco.
Goals
Habitats and Living Resources
Resilience
Water Quality and Quantity
Stewardship
Actions
Action 2
The charge of the Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) is to develop an implementable pilot program to monitor mature and restored tidal marsh habitat, with the goals of:
The project is funded by a Wetlands Program Development Grant from EPA Region 9.
The Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program Plan development processes is intended to proceed rapidly while gathering input from a diverse body of stakeholders in the Bay Area.
The development of the WRMP will be driven collaboratively by three bodies:
Additional input on the scientific content with be gathered through technical workshops, and plan elements may be developed by ad hoc sub-committees, as needed.
WRMP Program Plan Cover
Heidi Nutters, Environmental Planner, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
Kelly Santos, California Sea Grant Fellow, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
Joshua Collins, PhD, Chief Scientist, San Francisco Estuary Institute
The results are alarming for our state’s future: an estimated four to five feet of sea level rise and loss of one to two-thirds of Southern California beaches by 2100, a 50 percent increase in wildfires over 25,000 acres, stronger and longer heat waves, and infrastructure like airports, wastewater treatment plants, rail and roadways increasingly likely to suffer flooding.