Monitoring and Adaptive Management Manual
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Monitoring and Adaptive Management Procedures and Guidelines Manual Version 1.0 Originally released in December 2017 Updated August 2019 Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Suggested Citation: Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees. 2017. Monitoring and Adaptive Management Procedures and Guidelines Manual Version 1.0. Appendix to the Trustee Council Standard Operating Procedures for Implementation of the Natural Resource Restoration for the DWH Oil Spill. December. Available: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/. This document was copy edited and formatted with assistance from Abt Associates. December 2017 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 MAM Framework................................................................................................. 1 1.2 MAM Manual Overview ....................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 Purpose of the MAM Manual ................................................................... 2 1.2.2 Audience ................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Organization of the MAM Manual ........................................................................ 3 2. Restoration Project MAM ............................................................................................. 4 2.1 Background ......................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Monitoring Components at the Project Scale ...................................................... 4 2.3 Adaptive Management ........................................................................................ 5 2.3.1 Adaptive Management in NRDA .............................................................. 5 2.3.2 Project-Level Adaptive Management Components .................................. 6 2.4 MAM Plan Development ..................................................................................... 7 2.4.1 Guidance for Establishing Restoration Objectives for a MAM Plan .......... 8 2.4.2 Guidance for Establishing the Conceptual Setting for a MAM Plan .......... 9 2.4.3 Guidance for Identifying Potential Sources of Uncertainty for a MAM Plan ........................................................................................................11 2.4.4 Guidance for Developing Monitoring Design for a MAM Plan .................12 2.4.5 Guidance for Developing the Rationale for Adaptive Management for a MAM Plan ............................................................................................15 2.4.6 Guidance for Describing the Project Evaluation for a MAM Plan ............16 2.4.7 Guidance for Describing Project-Level Decisions: Performance Criteria and Corrective Actions for a MAM Plan ......................................17 2.4.8 Guidance for Describing the Data Management Strategy for a MAM Plan ........................................................................................................19 2.4.9 Guidance for Describing the Reporting Strategy for a MAM Plan ...........21 2.5 Funding: Project MAM Activities .........................................................................21 2.6 MAM Considerations during Project Implementation ..........................................21 2.6.1 Monitoring and Data Management..........................................................21 2.6.2 Project Evaluation and Learning from Adaptive Management.................22 2.6.3 Project Reporting ....................................................................................23 3. Guidance for Data Management .................................................................................25 3.1 Data Procedures ................................................................................................25 3.1.1 MAM Data Recording .............................................................................25 3.1.2 MAM Data Review and QA/QC ..............................................................25 3.1.3 MAM Data Storage and Accessibility ......................................................27 3.1.4 MAM Data Sharing .................................................................................27 3.2 Data Standards ..................................................................................................28 4. MAM Priorities .............................................................................................................30 References ..............................................................................................................................32 Monitoring and Adaptive Management Procedures and Guidelines Manual Version 1.0 i December 2017 A. Composition of the Cross-TIG MAM Work Group ................................................... A-1 B. MAM Manual Glossary of Terms .............................................................................. B-1 C. MAM Plan Template ................................................................................................... C-1 D. MAM Report Template ............................................................................................... D-1 E. Monitoring Guidance ................................................................................................. E-1 Monitoring and Adaptive Management Procedures and Guidelines Manual Version 1.0 ii December 2017 Acronyms BACI before-after, control-impact DIVER Data Integration Visualization Exploration and Reporting DWH Deepwater Horizon ESA Endangered Species Act FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee GOMA Gulf of Mexico Alliance GRTS Generalized Random Tessellation Stratified ID identification ISO International Organization for Standardization MAM Monitoring and Adaptive Management MMPA Marine Mammal Protection Act MSA Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NRDA Natural Resource Damage Assessment OPA Oil Pollution Act PDARP Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan PDF Portable Document Format PEIS Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement QA quality assurance QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QC quality control RESTORE Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States SMART Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-Oriented, and Time-Fixed SOP Standard Operating Procedure SOW scope of work TIG Trustee Implementation Group Monitoring and Adaptive Management Procedures and Guidelines Manual Version 1.0 iii December 2017 1. Introduction In the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PDARP/PEIS; DWH NRDA Trustees, 2016a), the DWH Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees (Trustees) selected a comprehensive, integrated ecosystem approach to restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. The restoration portfolio allocates up to $8.8 billion (including funds already spent for Early Restoration) paid out over 15 years for natural resources restoration across the five Gulf States and the open ocean. Given the unprecedented temporal, spatial, and funding scales associated with the DWH oil spill restoration effort, the Trustees have recognized the need for robust monitoring and adaptive management (MAM) to support restoration planning and implementation. As such, one of the programmatic goals established in the PDARP/PEIS is to “Provide for Monitoring, Adaptive Management, and Administrative Oversight to Support Restoration Implementation” to ensure that the restoration portfolio of projects provides long- term benefits to the resources and services injured by the spill. Therefore, the Trustees have committed to monitor and evaluate restoration outcomes within an adaptive management framework (Appendix 5.E of PDARP/PEIS; DWH NRDA Trustees, 2016a). An adaptive management framework will allow the Trustees to evaluate restoration effectiveness; address potential uncertainties, as applicable, related to project planning and implementation; and provide feedback to inform future restoration decisions. In the PDARP/PEIS, the Trustees committed to “develop a set of guidelines for standard monitoring and adaptive management practices” to support the implementation and evaluation of restoration projects over time (Appendix 5.E of PDARP/PEIS; DWH NRDA Trustees, 2016a). The Trustee Council’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs; DWH NRDA Trustees, 2016b) state that the Cross-Trustee Implementation Group (Cross-TIG) MAM work group will develop a Monitoring and Adaptive Management Procedures and Guidelines Manual (MAM Manual), which will incorporate recommended MAM procedures and guidelines, building upon the monitoring frameworks and conceptual monitoring plans developed by the Trustees for Early Restoration (Appendix 5.E of PDARP/PEIS; DWH NRDA Trustees, 2016a), to meet the needs of the Restoration Types and approaches laid out in the PDARP/PEIS. This document is Version 1.0 of the MAM Manual. For information on MAM roles and responsibilities at the Trustee Council, TIG, Cross-TIG MAM work group, and Implementing Trustee levels, see the Trustee Council SOPs (DWH NRDA Trustees, 2016b). 1.1 MAM Framework The Trustees presented a general MAM framework in the PDARP/PEIS