Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: a Tool to Prioritize Local Action

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Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: a Tool to Prioritize Local Action Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: A Tool to Prioritize Local Action June 2014 Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: A Tool to Prioritize Local Action June 2014 EP-C-12-054 Prepared by RTI International for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Support for this project was provided by the EPA Healthy Watersheds Program (http://www.epa.gov/healthywatersheds) Disclaimer The information presented in this document is intended to support screening-level assessments of watershed protection priorities and is based on modeled and aggregated data that may have been collected or generated for other purposes. Results should be considered in that context and do not supplant site-specific evidence of watershed health or vulnerability. At times, this document refers to statutory and regulatory provisions, which contain legally binding requirements. This document does not substitute for those provisions or regulations, nor is it a regulation itself. Thus, it does not impose legally binding requirements on EPA, states, authorized tribes, or the public and may not apply to a particular situation based on the circumstances. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. June 2014 Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: A Tool to Prioritize Local Action 1 Acknowledgements This document was prepared by RTI International under contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds. EPA initiated this project under a different contract by the Cadmus Group, Inc. Introductory and background material (including the content of Appendix C) in this report is based on materials prepared by Cadmus; however, technical approach and resulting findings were developed and implemented by RTI International. The following individuals are acknowledged for their contributions to project planning, data acquisition, and review of draft materials: • Nancy Arazan, U.S. EPA Office of Water • Cathy Bozek, The Nature Conservancy • Laura Gabanski, U.S. EPA Office of Water • Trish Garrigan, U.S. EPA Region 1 • Anne Kuhn, U.S. EPA Region 1 • Margherita Pryor, U.S. EPA Region 1 June 2014 Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: A Tool to Prioritize Local Action 2 Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 10 1.1 Taunton River Watershed Overview .......................................................................................... 11 1.2 Healthy Watersheds Program .................................................................................................... 13 1.3 The Nature Conservancy ............................................................................................................ 13 1.4 Watershed Resilience and Ecosystem Services .......................................................................... 14 2. Study Overview ................................................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Analytical Approach .................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Processing of ES Scoring Factors ..................................................................................... 26 2.2.2 Weighting and Enhancement Factors for Overall Scores................................................ 26 2.3 Interactive Database Product ..................................................................................................... 26 3. Findings ............................................................................................................................................... 35 3.1 Natural Lands .............................................................................................................................. 35 3.1.1 Riparian Freshwater Wetlands ........................................................................................ 35 3.1.2 Upland Freshwater Wetlands ......................................................................................... 42 3.1.3 Riparian Saltwater Wetlands ........................................................................................... 47 3.1.4 Riparian Forests ............................................................................................................... 52 3.1.5 Upland Forests ................................................................................................................ 58 3.2 Instream ...................................................................................................................................... 63 4. Customizing and Applying the Assessment Framework ..................................................................... 69 4.1 Designing Your Own “Top 10” .................................................................................................... 69 4.2 Connecting to GIS and Using this Analysis .................................................................................. 70 4.3 An Illustrative Example ............................................................................................................... 71 5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 74 References ................................................................................................................................................. 76 Appendices A Resources, Data, and Methods ........................................................................................................... 79 B Decision Support Tool Database User Guide ...................................................................................... 89 C Inventory of Taunton River Watershed Assessments and Data ....................................................... 100 June 2014 Strengthening the Resilience of the Taunton River Watershed: A Tool to Prioritize Local Action 3 List of Figures Figure ES-1. Example of Mapped Results Using Output from the Decision Support Tool: Overall Top- Ranked Riparian Freshwater Wetlands (Assuming Equal Weighting Across Scoring Factors and Ecosystem Service Categories) ............................................................................. 8 Figure 1-1. Taunton River Watershed in Southeastern Massachusetts .................................................. 12 Figure 1-2. 2005 Land Cover in the Taunton River Watershed ................................................................ 12 Figure 3-1. Overall Top-Ranked Riparian Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ......... 36 Figure 3-2. Top-Ranked Extreme Event Protection Riparian Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed .................................................................................................................... 37 Figure 3-3. Top-Ranked Water Quality Protection Riparian Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed .................................................................................................................... 38 Figure 3-4. Top-Ranked Habitat/Biodiversity Protection Riparian Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ...................................................................................................... 39 Figure 3-5. Top-Ranked Open Space Protection Riparian Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ............................................................................................................................. 40 Figure 3-6. Top-Ranked Air Quality Protection Riparian Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ............................................................................................................................. 41 Figure 3-7. Overall Top-Ranked Upland Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ........... 42 Figure 3-8. Highest-Ranked Water Quality Protection Upland Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed .................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 3-9. Highest-Ranked Habitat/Biodiversity Protection Upland Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ...................................................................................................... 44 Figure 3-10. Highest-Ranked Open Space Protection Upland Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed .................................................................................................................... 45 Figure 3-11. Highest-Ranked Air Quality Protection Upland Freshwater Wetlands in the Taunton River Watershed ...................................................................................................................
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