Established in 2002, Ecology has worked on a wide variety of environmental projects for public and private sector clients throughout California.  The following discusses a few key projects we have been involved with.

Santa Barbara Creeks Bioassessment Program 

Ecology's Jeff Brinkman has served as the principal consultant for the Santa Barbara Creeks Bioassessment Program since its inception in 2000.  The Program is a long-term effort funded by both the County of Santa Barbara and City of Santa Barbara to monitor the biological integrity of creeks in southern Santa Barbara County, and evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to improve water quality and restore stream habitats.  Ecology has worked closely with the County and City over the years to develop and refine the Program design and scope, which involves the collection of physiochemical and biological data including benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) samples from 20 to 25 streams each year using rapid bioassessment protocols.  BMI samples are analyzed in our laboratory to determine the taxonomy and abundance of the BMIs collected, and numerous BMI community parameters relating to taxonomic diversity, disturbance sensitivity, and trophic structure are calculated.  The data is used to produce a score of biotic integrity for each study stream using the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) that we developed in 2004, and recently updated in 2010.  By translating complex biological data into an easily understood score of biological integrity, the IBI serves as a powerful tool for communicating the biological status of local streams to the public, and an important basis of environmental management decisions.  The 2009 Annual Report and updated IBI is available for viewing and download at:

http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/0733C358-2C6E-4C46-B724-F28E497E92C9/0/Final2009BMIReport462010.pdf

Sinaloa Lake Habitat Restoration and Water Quality Monitoring Project

Ecology has served as the biological consultant for the Sinaloa Lake Habitat Restoration Project for the past six years.  The project involves the restoration of approximately 20 acres of wetland, riparian, and upland habitats at Sinaloa Lake, a private lake located in Simi Valley, California.  Ecology developed planting and maintenance plans for habitat areas, collected native plant cuttings and seeds, ordered container plants, recruited landscape contractors, directed planting crews, and monitored the restored habitat areas.  We communicate with state and federal regulatory agencies to ensure that the project complies with permit requirements, and prepare annual habitat monitoring reports for submission to the agencies.  We have also conducted quarterly water quality monitoring at the lake for a wide range of constituents including dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, nutrients, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons, and evaluated the data to determine whether the lake water met regulatory standards for water contact recreational use. 

Carpinteria Creek Steelhead Trout Population and Habitat Study

Ecology conducted a steelhead trout population and habitat study in Carpinteria Creek near Santa Barbara, California.  The study was part of the Carpinteria Creek watershed assessment and restoration effort carried out by the Cachuma Resources Conservation District and Carpinteria Creeks Coalition.  Carpinteria Creek is one of the most promising streams for steelhead recovery in Santa Barbara County.  We assessed physical habitat conditions and steelhead trout abundance, age structure, and population size in Carpinteria Creek and tributaries Gobernador Creek and Steer Creek using protocols from the California Department of Fish and Game’s Salmonid Stream Restoration Manual.  We also identified natural and manmade limiting factors (e.g., passage barriers, surface flow, water quality, etc.) to steelhead in Carpinteria Creek and its tributaries, and proposed actions to improve habitat conditions and recover the creek’s steelhead population.

California Salmonid Recovery Coordinator Program

Ecology served as For the Sake of the Salmon’s (FSOS’s) Salmonid Recovery Coordinator for southern California for two years.  FSOS was a regional non-profit with a mission to restore salmonids of the Pacific Coast to levels that ensure healthy, sustainable natural populations and support productive fisheries.  Ecology helped local watershed groups protect and restore steelhead trout populations and habitat in coastal California from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.  Our work included one-on-one consultations with dozens of watershed groups and the sponsoring of three free public workshops on steelhead restoration.  Specific services that we provided included watershed group development, networking with fisheries professionals, steelhead habitat assessment, obtaining grant funding for steelhead restoration projects, and steelhead restoration project design, permitting, and implementation.  Over two years, we helped local environmental groups obtain more than $3 million in state and federal funding to preserve and restore critical steelhead habitat in the region.