Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office owns and manages the PRISM database. Lead Entities are local community groups, established by Washington state law, which establish and implement watershed and salmon recovery plans. These plans identify key restoration projects through unique approaches that balance what salmon need to recover and what is feasible to implement with available resources.

PRISM Online grant management database.

The floodplain habitat restoration Progress Indicator tracks the acres of habitat restored through projects in floodplain areas across Puget Sound. Habitat restoration data is tracked through Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO)’s grant management database, PRISM. This indicator relies on PRISM data to track habitat restoration in floodplains over time.

Project sponsors document habitat restoration projects in PRISM by attaching specific metrics to their projects. This indicator tracks projects tagged with PRISM metrics #55 (changes in channel morphology, sinuosity or connectivity to off-channel habitat, wetlands, or floodplains), #74 (total length of streambank riparian area treated and amount of riparian area treated or managed), #128 (total acres of wetland treated), and #136 (total acres of estuarine/nearshore area treated). Metric #128 includes specific restoration activities: planting of native wetland species in wetland areas, removal and/or control of non-native species, noxious weeds, and other plants or invasive species, and improvement, reconnection, or restoration of existing or historic wetlands. Metrics #74 and #136 also include specific activities related to riparian restoration and estuarine/nearshore restoration; these activities are described in the methods section of the riparian restoration and estuarine/nearshore restoration Progress Indicators, respectively.

Habitat restoration data for active, active completed, and closed completed projects implemented between state fiscal year 2011 through state fiscal year 2024 are extracted from the PRISM database. Any project with a project type that includes “Restoration” are included – this dataset may therefore include Planning & Restoration projects, Restoration & Development projects, etc. The data are then filtered to include only projects tagged with RCO metrics #55, #74, #128, and #136. The “Proposed” acreage value is displayed in the dataset for projects in the active stage. The “Final” acreage value is displayed in the dataset for projects in active completed or closed completed stages.

Once habitat restoration data were obtained from PRISM, data were cross-referenced with aerial imagery-derived floodplain connectivity restoration data on floodplain restoration. Data on acres of floodplains connected were manually entered from this aerial imagery dataset. Data were manually reviewed and cross-referenced with Project Snapshots to confirm the value of acreages. Data were then organized by the state fiscal year in which they began, and data visualizations were created in either Microsoft Excel or Puget Sound Partnership’s reporting platform, PS Info.

Limitations

The number of acres restored may change between the project’s proposal and its completion.

Data for this indicator include active projects, whose final acreages may be different from proposed acreages depending on a range of factors (land acquisition, equipment availability, site specifics, etc.). However, the Partnership reviewed a dataset of 251 completed projects with proposed and final acreage values and found that 84% of proposed values were within +/- 10 acres of the final value. There is thus a small degree of expected error as projects are completed and the final acres restored are documented. This indicator will be updated annually to include finalized acre totals as possible.  

PRISM is not entirely comprehensive.

This indicator relies on PRISM, which is known to be an incomplete record of restoration in the Puget Sound. However, PRISM is the most comprehensive database of restoration projects available at this point. The Puget Sound Partnership is invested in exploring additional data streams and including them in the dataset for this and other habitat restoration Progress Indicators (e.g., riparian restoration, estuarine/nearshore restoration).

PRISM use may vary across the region.

PRISM relies on project sponsors to personally submit data on restoration projects. Project sponsors may differ in how they apply metrics to projects. However, Lead Entity Coordinators dedicate resources to training and supporting project sponsors as they submit their project data. The Puget Sound Partnership is also committed to supporting Lead Entities in the consistent use of PRISM.

Floodplains: the floodplain extent represents the historic or geomorphic floodplain boundary. This covers the relatively level surface extending laterally from the river channel edge (Beechie et al. 2017). Within each river, the floodplain includes the upland freshwater as well as brackish estuarine, pocket estuarine, nearshore, and delta areas. 

*NOTE: PSP defines floodplain as inclusive of freshwater floodplain, estuarine, and riparian areas. We apply this definition across all PSP indicator programs, based on past workshops with LEs, Tribes, and local practitioners to develop other floodplain indicators. 

Freshwater floodplains: freshwater floodplain boundary areas, including the relatively level surface extending laterally from the river channel edge (Beechie et al. 2017) and upland freshwater areas.

Estuary/nearshore: 

• Estuary: tidally influenced areas where fresh and marine waters mix, including protected embayments (modified from PCSRF Data Dictionary 2013 and Encyclopedia of Puget Sound). 
• Nearshore: marine riparian, beaches, and shallow water environments of Puget Sound estuarine and marine shoreline areas representing the aquatic boundary between freshwater, air, land, and the open marine waters of Puget Sound (Nearshore Science Team 2003). 

Riparian: freshwater areas above the ordinary high-water mark of the stream and within the floodplain of the stream/waterbody (PCSRF Data Dictionary 2013).