California Freshwater Conservation Success Index: An Assessment of Freshwater Resources in California, with focus on lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management

Document Details:

Title: California Freshwater Conservation Success Index: An Assessment of Freshwater Resources in California, with focus on lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management
Category: Technical Report
File: Fesenmyer_et_al_2013_0492_CSI-BLM-Freshwater-Assessment-v1_0.pdf
Updated Date: 12.10.2018
Author(s)/Source(s): Kurt Fesenmyer, Rene Henery, Jack Williams, Trout Unlimited Science Program
Publication Date: 2013-Dec
Focal Topic: Habitat Restoration, Water Quality
Location: United States
Abstract:

We describe the methods, structure, and results of the California Freshwater Conservation Success Index (CSI), an assessment tool focused on aquatic species and habitats, the condition of those habitats, and threats those resources will likely face in the future. The CSI uses a common conservation planning approach of subwatershed-scale data summary and scoring, synthesizing and interpreting spatial data for 43 metrics consolidated into 22 indicators. The Aquatic Species Status group of indicators summarizes the findings of a new database of over 400,000 records for 1550 aquatic-dependent species, including all 48 BLM Special Status Species that use freshwater habitats. The Aquatic Habitats Status indicators provide multiple summaries of a multi-source aquatic feature and land cover dataset. A group of Habitat Integrity indicators includes assessment of watershed condition, temperature conditions, habitat connectivity, water quality, water quantity, and land stewardship factors. Future threats are anticipated within indicators related to land conversion, resource extraction, climate change, water quality risk, and introduced species. The combined results map the pattern of relative condition of aquatic species, habitats, condition, and threats across a broad landscape. We provide an example interpretation of how the results of the California Freshwater CSI can be used to identify conservation strategies and discuss important considerations for using the assessment. The results are available as a web map and as a GIS database, allowing users to develop custom queries and configurations of the results for identifying specific opportunities or for evaluating projects.

Keyword Tags:
Conservation Success Index (CSI), Assessment tool