Data & Tools

For example, an LIO member or other restoration planner may want to use the web map to identify where certain priority areas overlap with floodplains – which could either indicate high flood risk that should be addressed or areas for potential multi-benefit projects that reduce flood risk while making improvements other priorities.

In the Floodplains category, turn on either the FEMA Flood Hazards layer (if interested in the regulatory floodplain) or the Floodplain Planning Area layer (if interested in an approximation of the historic floodplain prior to the construction of levees). Then, in the Priority Layers category, turn on any other priority layers of interest. For example, turn on the Agriculture – Conservation layer to identify which high priority agricultural parcels are located in the floodplain. Or turn on the Salmon layer to identify high priority areas for salmon restoration that overlap with floodplains.

The Farms & Agriculture category includes layers that can be used to explore pressures on farmland. Turn on the Actively Farmed 2019 layer to show active farmland in the watershed. Then turn on the Actively Farmed within UGAs, Actively Farmed in Non-Ag Zoning, and Actively Farmed along Transportation Improvements to highlight those farmland areas at risk from development pressure due to zoning, inclusion in an urban growth area, or proximity to a planned road project. Turn on the SSURGO layer to show which of those parcels at higher risk of development are classified as prime farmland.

If an LIO member is interested in exploring access to open space and its relationship to other indicators of equity, they can turn on the Equity and Human Well Being – Access to Open Space layer in the Priority Layers category. This layer highlights areas within cities or urban growth areas that are a half mile or greater from a park. In the Equity and Human Health category, turn on the Socioeconomic Factors layer to show how census tracts in the watershed rank in terms of vulnerability due to socioeconomic factors. Tracts that rank an 8, 9, or 10 have the highest equity concerns; look to areas where those tracts have low access to open space to identify potential locations for priority new parks. Note that the Port of Tacoma area rates as high for equity concerns and for lack of access to open space, but as an industrial area it may not be a high priority; this is an example of the fact that this web map tool provides a starting point but that additional local knowledge is always helpful to contextualize results.

There are two priority layers for the Forests focus area – one showing priority areas for protection and one showing priority areas for increasing forest cover. Turning both layers on clearly shows the difference in focus in different areas of the watershed. The upper watershed portions of the Carbon River watershed is high priority for forest protection, while vast swathes of the lower-lying areas of the watershed, within city boundaries, has been identified as high priority.