This layer shows the maximum extent of eelgrass that has been surveyed in the San Francisco Bay. This resource is intended to be a starting point for understanding potential eelgrass habitat as a general reference only. Further information on methods and limitations can be found at SFEI. Merkel & Associates, Inc. conducted Baywide surveys in 2003, 2009, 2014, and a Richardson Bay survey in 2019 - these are all included in this layer. The 2019 results were received from Merkel & Associates, Inc directly and permission to share this publicly was granted.

Methods for developing this dataset are as follows:

Downloaded Baywide Eelgrass Surveys from SFEI done by Merkel & Associates, Inc in 2003, 2009, and 2014. Uploaded this layer and Richardson Bay 2019 survey layer (projected NAD 1983 UTM Zone 10N). Ran union of both the SFEI and Richardson Bay 2019 layers. Merged features to create one single attribute for eelgrass cover from all survey years. Removed extraneous columns in the attribute table, recalculated area fields, and applied symbology.