2014 Technical Memorandum Regarding the Accounting of San Joaquin River Spring-run Chinook Salmon at the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Fish Collection Facilities

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  Adaptive Management for Ecosystem Restoration: Analysis and Issues for Congress

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  Adaptive Management for Ecosystem Restoration: Analysis and Issues for Congress

  Congressional Research Service | March 4, 2011...

  Summary

  Adaptive management is the process of incorporating new scientific and programmatic information into the implementation of a project or plan to ensure that...

  Adaptive management is the process of incorporating new scientific and programmatic information into the implementation of a project or plan to ensure that the goals of the activity are being reached efficiently. It promotes flexible decision-making to modify existing activities or create new activities if new circumstances arise (e.g., new scientific information) or if projects are not meeting their goals.

  The complex and dynamic nature of ecosystems make their restoration and management amenable to an adaptive management approach, and the concept is being implemented at scales that include entire regions or river basins. Adaptive management has been used to guide several major ecosystem restoration efforts with involvement by the federal  government, including those on the Colorado and Platte rivers. Some of these adaptive management efforts have been specifically authorized by Congress, whereas other efforts have been formulated by agencies.

  Adaptive management has also been proposed as a guiding principle for several new and ongoing major restoration efforts, including those in the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Tahoe.

  The concept of adaptive management is straightforward, but its implementation can be difficult. A preliminary review of federal adaptive management efforts related to ecosystem restoration projects suggests that governance structures, management protocol and other factors vary widely.  Additionally, the scope and timing of efforts employing the term “adaptive management” seems  to vary among these projects. Where adaptive management has been implemented, it has encountered challenges. While adaptive management theoretically uses the best available science and monitoring to guide a project or program towards its stated goals, in practice the process can be affected by a number of outside factors.

  As the number of federal adaptive management efforts grows, Congress may revisit its role in shaping adaptive management programs in legislation. Some argue that Congress should do more to provide specific direction for major adaptive management initiatives in order to make adaptive management more consistent among these efforts. Others contend that Congress should allow federal agencies or restoration governing bodies to shape their own adaptive management programs, thus providing them with flexibility to match their program to their restoration needs.

  In addressing adaptive management, Congress may face decisions regarding the implementation guidelines and authorizations it provides these efforts, funds to establish and carry out these programs, and oversight issues.

  This report provides an introduction to the concept of adaptive management. It focuses on the application of this concept to large, freshwater aquatic ecosystem restoration projects with multiple stakeholders. A summary of the benefits and drawbacks of adaptive management for these projects is provided, along with analysis of potential issues associated with various governance models for these efforts. The potential role for Congress in addressing adaptive management is also discussed. As an appendix, the report summarizes the structure and implementation of federal adaptive management efforts to date five ecosystems: Glen Canyon/Colorado River, Platte River, Lower Colorado River, Missouri River, and Florida Everglades.

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  From the Sierra to the Sea: The Ecological History of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Watershed

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  From the Sierra to the Sea: The Ecological History of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Watershed

  The Bay Institute | January 1, 1998...

  Summary

  A vast watershed connects the mountain streams surrounding California’s Central Valley with San Francisco Bay and the ocean beyond. Over the course of...

  A vast watershed connects the mountain streams surrounding California’s Central Valley with San Francisco Bay and the ocean beyond. Over the course of the last two centuries, much of the natural productivity, biodiversity and ecological integrity of the watershed has been destroyed by modifying the environment without fully understanding the long-term environmental consequences. Long the site of some of the nation’s most intensive conflicts over the use of land and water resources, this system is now emerging as the focus of one of the most ambitious ecological restoration efforts ever undertaken in the United States.

  This report was designed to provide a coherent and defensible ecological framework and information base for restoration. The need for such an historical, broad-scale perspective on system ecology stems from two fundamental principles of ecological restoration - the need to manage toward a natural template and to manage at ecosystem and landscape levels.

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  Risks and Options to Reduce Risks to Fishery and Water Supply Uses of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta

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  Risks and Options to Reduce Risks to Fishery and Water Supply Uses of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta

  Department of Water Resources | January 1, 2008...

  Summary

  Assembly Bill (AB) 1200 (Laird, Chapter 573, Statutes of 2005) highlighted the complex Delta water issues, and directed the Department of Water Resources...

  Assembly Bill (AB) 1200 (Laird, Chapter 573, Statutes of 2005) highlighted the complex Delta water issues, and directed the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to report to the Legislature and Governor on the following:

  • Potential impacts of levee failures on water supplies derived from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta due to future subsidence, earthquakes, floods, and effects of climate change
  • Options to reduce the impacts of these factors
  • Options to restore salmon and other fisheries that use the Delta estuary

  The State is currently involved in four major planning efforts to evaluate ecosystem and water supply issues and consider options for improvements:

  1. The Delta Risk Management Strategy (DRMS) is evaluating Delta issues primarily from the perspective of the risks from levee failures and ways to reduce those risks
  2. The CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP) Conservation Strategy is identifying restoration opportunities within the Delta and Suisun Marsh ecological restoration zones based on existing elevations, soil types, habitats and natural process requirements of pelagic organisms and other native fish species
  3. The Delta Vision will develop a durable vision for sustainable management of the Delta with the goal of managing the Delta over the long term to restore and maintain identified functions and values that are determined to be important to the environmental quality of the Delta and the economic and social well being of the people of the state
  4. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is evaluating Delta issues primarily for the goal of obtaining permits for water supply operations through a comprehensive conservation plan for the Delta designed to protect and restore at-risk species.

  Since each process has only prepared initial findings at this point in time, this document reports on progress made to define the risks and options to reduce risks for the Delta as requested by the Legislature.

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  Status and Trends of Delta-Suisun Services

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  Status and Trends of Delta-Suisun Services

  Department of Water Resources | March 1, 2007...

  Summary

  Covering only about 1 percent of California’s area, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, including Suisun Bay and Marsh (hereafter referred to as Delta-Suisun), contributes...

  Covering only about 1 percent of California’s area, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, including Suisun Bay and Marsh (hereafter referred to as Delta-Suisun), contributes much more to the state and nation than one might expect from its small size.

  The Delta-Suisun provides a set of environmental and economic services whose benefits extend well beyond its borders. To help people gain a common understanding of these services, this report provides an overview of the existing status of these services and a perspective about how these services may change in the future.

  This report was prepared to highlight observations and to present a common understanding about the status and trends of key Delta-Suisun services. The Delta Risk Management Strategy (DRMS) is considering these observations while conducting a risk assessment for the Delta-Suisun and will report on its findings in spring 2007.

  Having a common understanding of the area’s services will benefit ongoing and new Delta-Suisun studies and initiatives. Information in this report will be considered by members of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force and Stakeholder Coordination Group as they begin work on the Delta Vision and Strategic Plan.

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