Whipple, A.; Grenier, L.; Safran, S. M.; Zeleke, D.; Wells, E.; Deverel, S.; Olds, M.; Cole, S.; Rodríguez-Flores, J.; Guzman, A.; et al. 2022. RESILIENT STATEN ISLAND: Landscape Scenario Analysis Pilot Application.  SFEI Contribution No. 1083. San Francisco Estuary Institute: Richmond, Ca.
A central motivating question for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta science and management community is what should be done, where and when, to support future Delta landscapes that are ecologically and economically viable and resilient to change. Actions must be taken that have the greatest potential for achieving multiple benefits. This is especially important given the urgency to rapidly transition Delta landscapes to address biodiversity loss, erosion of ecosystem resilience, flood risk, water supply reliability, and cultural and economic sustainability. Landscape-scale planning is needed to examine how individual actions add up to meaningful change. Such planning involves figuring out how different areas can provide different functions at different times and helps show how choices made now can help shift trajectories toward desired outcomes. Too often, land use and management decisions are made based on a limited set of objectives or at the site scale, resulting in missed opportunities. Actions (or inaction) should not foreclose on critical opportunities. Moving forward, there is great need to more effectively compare possible future scenarios across a range of ecological and economic factors. This scenario analysis for Staten Island ? a large Delta island managed for multiple uses and facing challenges similar to elsewhere in the Delta ? provides an approach to help address this need.