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 estuarine/nearshore habitat restoration Progress Indicator tracks the acres of habitat restored through projects in estuarine/nearshore 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 estuarine/nearshore areas over time.

Project sponsors document habitat restoration projects in PRISM by attaching specific metrics to their projects. This indicator tracks projects tagged with PRISM metric #136, total acres of estuary/nearshore area treated. Metric #136 includes specific activities in estuarine/nearshore restoration: channel modification, dike or berm modification/removal, tidegate alteration/removal, estuarine culvert modification/removal, removal of existing fill material, fill placement, regrading of slope, estuarine plant removal/control, shoreline armor removal or modification, beach nourishment, contaminant removal/remediation, debris removal, overwater structure removal/modification, exclusion devices, and estuarine planting. This indicator uses metric #136 to avoid double-counting acres restored through multiple specific activities.

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 metric #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.

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., freshwater floodplains, riparian 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.

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).