SF Bay Eelgrass 250m Buffer (BCDC 2021)

<div style='text-align:Left;'><p style='margin-top:0in; background-image:initial; background-position:initial; background-size:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-attachment:initial; background-origin:initial; background-clip:initial;'><span style='font-family:inherit, serif;'>This orange layer shows a 250-meter turbidity
buffer of the blue 45-meter growth buffer (</span>blue layer called &quot;SF Bay Eelgrass 45m Buffer&quot;) adjacent to the maximum extent
eelgrass survey in the San Francisco Bay. When a dredging project’s footprint
overlaps with this 250-meter buffer, indirect impacts to eelgrass are assessed
and best management practices are required per the National Marine Fisheries Service's LTMS Programmatic Essential Fish Habitat consultation. </p><p><span>Methods for creating this layer are as follows: </span></p><p style='margin:1 1 1 20;'></p><p style='margin-top:0in; background-image:initial; background-position:initial; background-size:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-attachment:initial; background-origin:initial; background-clip:initial;'>Downloaded Bay-wide Eelgrass Surveys
for 2003, 2009, and 2014 by Merkel &amp; Associates, Inc. (Merkel) from <a href='https://www.sfei.org/data/eelgrass-survey-gis-data#sthash.pbS8XJq7.dpbs' rel='nofollow ugc'>SFEI</a>.
Obtained Richardson Bay 2019 eelgrass survey from Merkel. Loaded all layers
into ArcGIS Pro © ESRI and re-projected all data to NAD 1983 UTM Zone 10N. Used
Buffer tool to develop a single multipart shapefile with a 45-meter buffer of
the 2003, 2009, 2014, and 2019 survey data . Imported the Pacific Marine and
Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP) Estuary Extent layer and clipped the
45-meter buffer over terrestrial areas based on the PEMP Estuary Extent (this
represents the 45-meter eelgrass buffer layer also found in this Web
Application). To create the 250-meter turbidity buffer from there, the same
methods were used as follows. Used Buffer tool to develop a single multipart
shapefile with a 250-meter buffer from the 45-meter buffer layer. Clipped the
250-meter turbidity buffer over terrestrial areas based on the PEMP Estuary
Extent. Some minor adjustments were made where the 250-meter turbidity buffer
layer resulted in fragments on land or behind levees.</p><p></p></div>