NOAA’s Habitat Blueprint- a multiagency approach to climate

adaptation and increasing resiliency along the Sonoma coast

Sonoma Adaptation ForumApril 8, 2015

STRATEGY

The Habitat Blueprint is NOAA’s strategy to:

•focus efforts in priority areas •improve conservation and management efforts•leverage internal and external collaborations

Climate Adaptationand Mitigation

NOAA LINE OFFICES INVOLVED

An informed society anticipating and

responding to climate and its impacts

Weather Ready Nation

Society is prepared for and responds to

weather-related events

Healthy Habitats and Fisheries

Marine fisheries, habitats,

and biodiversity sustained within

healthy and productive ecosystems

Resilient Coastal Communities and

Economies

Coastal and Great Lakes communities that are environmentally and

economically sustainable

Office of Atmospheric

Research (OAR)

National Weather Service

(NWS)

National Marine Fisheries Service

(NMFS)

National Ocean Service (NOS)

Program Planning and

Integration (PPI)

Strategic planning, social and economic

impacts, stakeholders and

environmental policy

Social Science and Strategy

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•Rebuilding endangered coho salmon and threatened Chinook salmon and steelhead stocks to sustainable levels through habitat protection and restoration.

•Improving frost, rainfall, and river forecasts in the Russian River watershed through improved data collection and modeling.

•Increasing community and ecosystem resiliency to flooding and drought through improved planning and water management strategies.

BLUEPRINT OBJECTIVES

NOAA COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS• Managing and Restoring the Russian River Estuary for Multiple Uses (NOS,NWS/

NMFS and local partners)• COSMOS and Sea Level Rise Data and Capacity• Water Quality and Habitat/Fisheries

• Improve Precipitation and River Flow Forecasting to Maximize Water Capture for Reservoirs and Fisheries (OAR, NWS, NMFS)

• Water storage/water use and accessibility to water• Rule curve changes• Tie in with flooding and Estuary

• Russian River Tributary Hydrologic Study (OAR, NMFS, Sea Grant)• Collaborative water model that can be used by all stakeholders• Identify tributary stream reaches with the potential to improve fisheries habitat through non-regulatory [ and / or voluntary] water conservation strategies

• Improving Frost Prediction and Protection Methods for Vineyards (OAR, NMFS, NWS)

• Enhanced and reliable frost predictions and data access• Development of Frost protection strategies

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Increasing resiliency requires a team approach !

•Sonoma County Water Agency•Sonoma County Permit and Resources Management Dept.

•Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District•USGS

•CA Coastal Commission•Ocean Protection Council•Bodega Marine Lab

•Center for Ocean Solutions•And many more….

PARTNERS

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE SONOMA COAST

• The Sonoma Coast and the Russian River estuary are highly productive and diverse systems and are shaped by dynamic forces. Understanding how the coast and estuary will be impacted by climate change and sea level rise is important.

• Sea levels are expected to rise along the California coast in the future and local decision makers need data and technical assistance to support their planning and management objectives.

CLIMATE DATA AND TOOLSThe Blueprint is providing data and tools to support Sonoma’s LCP update and coastal management and planning.

NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer:

CLIMATE DATA AND TOOLSUSGS COSMOS MODEL

global climate model, global wave model, tide and storm data, Sonoma topographic data are all modeled and provide an array of sea level rise and storm scenarios.

COASTAL CLIMATE WORKING GROUP

The Blueprint is coordinating a Russian River Estuary / Sea Level Rise Working Group that provides technical assistance, builds capacity and provides a forum for discussing coastal climate adaptation projects.

HABITAT AND WATER QUALITYThe Blueprint team is also developing a model to quantify how Russian River habitat changes as a result of changes in water quality.

HABITAT BLUEPRINTNext Steps:

•Ongoing coordination with Blueprint partners along the coast and in the Russian River

•Potential coastal / watershed model integration

•Continued technical assistance and climate support

QUESTIONS

www.noaa.gov/habitatblueprint.htmlNOAARussianRiver.Blueprint@noaa.gov