With initial funding secured, SACOG staff met last month with conservation plan representatives from Yolo, Placer, Sutter, Yuba and Sacramento counties and the Army Corps of Engineers to kick off the Six-County Aquatic Resources Inventory (SACRI). The meeting also included U.S. EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The first stage includes data assessment and procurement. Once complete, data will be synthesized and deficiencies will be identified. Phase two will be to categorize the data, followed by phase three, qualification.
Participants expressed strong interest in ensuring that all phases support ongoing conservation efforts, including that existing data be usedas a baseline and that SACRI not create a new regulatory standard. Participants would like SACRI to enhance the ability of the Corps, and other federal resource agencies to integrate an increasingly broad permitting scope for the region's conservation plans.
The Corps is asking other federal agencies toprovide policy and financial support for SACRI, and U.S. EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service both expressed interest at the meeting. U.S. EPA encouraged SACOG to define a "tool" and apply for a grant they are currently soliciting proposals for. SACOG staff will submit a proposal prior to the March 31 deadline.
The development team for the inventory will be meeting at least bimonthly, and additional stakeholders will be regularly added to the team.
For more information contact Stacey McKinley at smckinley@sacog.org.