Tool developed to help watershed managers prioritize among multiple stream restoration, protection projects

SCCWRP and its partners have developed a set of tools to help California watershed managers identify watershed restoration and protection projects that are most likely to achieve the greatest improvements to stream health and optimally benefit communities disproportionately affected by stream degradation.

The set of statewide tools, released in April and described in a SCCWRP technical report, provides a systematic way for watershed managers to take advantage of existing data – including stream bioassessment data from statewide databases, and maps of areas subject to a variety of landscape stressors – to prioritize among multiple potential restoration and protection projects across a watershed.

The tool set is designed to particularly useful for conducting screening-level prioritization exercises for watersheds that lack a critical mass of detailed, site-specific investigations.

As part of the tool’s development, researchers demonstrated how to apply the tools in six pilot watersheds in central and southern California, including the Ventura River, San Juan Creek and San Diego River watersheds.