Project Story: Franks Tract Futures

Franks Tract is a 3,300-acre flooded island in the centre of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta region in California. The intent of this project was to use a Structured Decision Making approach to identify a broadly supported design for restoring Franks Tract that would benefit native species, provide enhanced recreational opportunities and other community benefits, and improve water quality for human uses.

Compass worked within a multidisciplinary project team to apply a Structured Decision Making approach to the planning process and integrate technical analysis and public engagement. The team formed a Steering Committee, comprised of state and local agency representatives, and an Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from many diverse stakeholder interests and the public. The team worked with the Committees, the public and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a set of goals and objectives for the project, and worked with experts and the public to iteratively design and evaluate creative alternatives to meet those goals and objectives. Multiple modes of engagement were used to facilitate feedback and co-design with stakeholders and the public, including in-person participation, the project website, social media, public online map-based surveys, fieldwork, canvassing and interviews.

Three iterative rounds of design and evaluation were completed as the Committees and the public narrowed down and refined their concepts to determine a preferred alternative. Each alternative was evaluated across multiple objectives, including navigation, recreation, local economy and community, ecology, water quality and supply reliability, flood protection, construction impacts and total cost. A variety of data and information – including modelling outputs, literature reviews, and expert and lay judgements on a wide range of topics – were integrated into consistent, understandable ratings on a 1 to 10 scale, which allowed stakeholders to have value-based conversations about the trade-offs of the different alternatives.

Full report available here.