California Maps

Digital Data Availability Summary

Click for local parcel information. Map courtesy Digital Map Store

CALIFORNIA	Spatial	Non-spatial	None
GIS Data Portals	x
Reference and Supporting Data
Cadastral Reference Grid			x
Shorelines	x
Coastal Imagery	x
Bathymetry	x
Marine Jurisdictional Boundaries	x
Submerged Lands Boundaries			x
Ownership
Submerged Lands Parcels		x
General Property and Parcel Data	x
Public and Conservation Lands	x
Leases and Other Use Authorizations
Aquaculture and Shellfish		x
Other Use Authorizations		x
Marine Managed Areas	x
Local Parcel Information	19 coastal counties
Deed Records	x
Assessment Data	x
Parcels	x

Why is marine cadastral data important for conservation and marine spatial planning?

Marine Cadastral Data Management

The Nature Conservancy’s 2010 Nationwide Comparative Assessment of State-level Marine Cadastral Data in California included a review of relevant Internet sites and an interview with the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) about their marine data needs and the management of marine cadastral data. The CDFG also completed a written inventory (pdf) of California’s state-level marine cadastral data. Staff at NOAA and TNC who have been involved in California’s Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) offered further insights.

State Data Management: The California GIS Council meets on a regular basis to facilitate coordination between state agencies, regional GIS Coordinating bodies and local governments. The CAL-Atlas Geospatial Clearinghouse is associated with the Council and functions as the state portal for spatial data through its data catalogs as well as providing links to the state’s spatial data community.

California initiated a process to establish MPAs as a result of the state’s Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) under the guidance of the CDFG in 2004 and it continues to be an ongoing activity in 2011. The MLPAI planning process has been coordinated using Marine Map, a decision-support tool and spatial databases that are managed by the Marine Map Consortium. It is a collaborative effort between UC Santa Barbara, Ecotrust, and TNC. Marine Map allows stakeholders to view relevant data and create proposed MPA boundaries. The Marine Map has become the de facto central storehouse for California’s marine data, although they are not designated as the long-term manager of this data.1 There are numerous sources of relevant data on the site but they are not necessarily integrated with one another.

Marine Cadastre and Supporting Data

Cadastral Reference System: California does not use a marine cadastral reference grid; boundary issues are addressed on a case-by-case basis. Boundaries for MPAs developed under the MLPAI are drawn east-west using a selected subset of lines of latitude. North-south boundaries generally run from the coast to the Submerged Lands Act boundary. This system simplifies boundary descriptions and provides a limited reference system.

Supporting Reference Data

Shorelines and Bathymetry: A database of shorelines is available from CAL-Atlas. Sea-floor bathymetry is being developed using SONAR and LIDAR, and recent coastal aerial imagery exists, but a high quality coastal shoreline (both mean high water and mean low water) is needed. Bathymetry is available from the CDFG.

Coastal Imagery: CAL-Atlas provides downloadable imagery data, current and historic. Imagery in the coastal area is viewable from Marine Map.

Marine Jurisdictional and Submerged Lands Boundaries: State and county boundaries are readily available on CAL-Atlas, but municipal boundaries must be sought from local governments. Tribal boundaries generally are not available to the public. Databases of submerged land boundaries were identified. As a proxy for the boundaries in coastal waters and tidelands, the state often uses the National Wetlands Inventory or NOAA CCAP data.

The federal Bureau of Land Management maintains a geodatabase showing the locations of federal, state, and locally managed land; again, tribal ownership is not currently available to the public. Private ownership should be reflected in county land records.

Ownership: Rights, interests, restrictions, and responsibilities in California’s coastal and ocean lands and resources are managed by a number of agencies. The State Land Commission leases state submerged lands, both directly under the Public Resources Code and in conjunction with the CDFG. The California Coastal Commission issues permits for private development along the coast. The CDFG administers the MPA program. Local governments have been issued eighty-five grants of submerged lands. Private ownership exists in some locations, deriving either from purchase from Mexico or from the purchase of lands in San Francisco Bay between 1850 and 1876. Tribes may also have ownership of some submerged lands.

Leases and Other Use Authorizations: The CDFG has spatial data for the state’s aquaculture leases. The State Land Commission has begun putting some lease records in GIS format, creating center points for leased parcels that touch the shoreline. Spatial data on many leases are not available or must be gathered from federal sources or shoreline surveys.

Marine Managed Areas: The CDFG ftp site has downloadable data for California marine protected areas. The CDFG also provides viewable maps of each MPA. Information on marine managed areas can be found in the Marine Map.

Local Parcel Information: All of the coastal counties have parcel data. Currently it is not centrally compiled for publication so it is necessary to contact each county independently to acquire digital parcel data.

GIS Portals

CAL-Atlas Geospatial Clearinghouse. Data collections, online mapping, and other GIS resources. (web site)
California Environmental Resource Evaluation System. Search for digital environmental information, including spatial data. (web site)
California Marine Map. Marine Map is a web-based decision support tool for open and participatory spatial planning in the marine environment. (web site)
California Natural Resource Agency Atlas/Map Server (CNRA Atlas). Online maps and services. (web site)

Reference and Supporting Data

Cadastral Reference Grid

None used

Shorelines

Data	California coast
Access	Provides link to data source (web site)
Detail	Search term shoreline. ESRI shapefile format.
Distributor	CalAtlas

Coastal Imagery

Data	DOQQ
Access	Geofinder > Statewide Data> Imagery, Basemaps, Landcover> Imagery (web site)
Detail	Various sources of imagery by tile
Distributor	California Natural Resource Agency

Bathymetry

Data	Bathymetry Layers
Access	Download shapefile (web site)
Detail	Various resolutions of bathymetry as shapefile, image files, and grids.
Distributor	Department of Fish and game

Marine Jurisdictional Boundaries

Data	Jurisdictional Boundaries
Access	Query term State or County by Theme Boundary (web page)
Detail	Depicts the state’s 3-nautical-mile territorial limit. 2006.
Distributor	Various boundary layers with links to sources. Includes state, county, regional jurisdictions.
Contact	Cal-Atlas

The term submerged lands is used here to refer to tidal waters lying between the high water mark and the seaward extent of the state’s jurisdictional limit, which for most states is three nautical miles (i.e., the Submerged Lands Act Boundary). See the Submerged Lands definitions page for specific terminology used in each state.

Submerged Lands Boundaries

No data found.

Ownership

Submerged Lands Parcels

No data found.

General Property and Parcel Data

Data	California Parcel Data
Access	Fee-based service: download or search and view online. Based on AutoDesk Map 3D. (web site)
Detail	Current GIS parcel data and boundaries maintained in cooperation with all 58 California counties. Data has been standardized across all counties.
Distributor	County Direct Data

Data	California Parcel Data Clearinghouse
Access	Project in development. No data currently available. (web site)
Detail	Purpose is to allow counties to post basic parcel information and the public to download reference parcel information.
Distributor	Project is housed in CaSIL’s GISForge, a service to GIS developers.

Public and Conservation Lands

Data	Public, Conservation and Trust Lands
Access	Download ESRI shapefiles or geodatabase. (web site)
Detail	Lands owned by public, trust, and non-profit groups in the state. Not for boundary or parcel determination. Current to 2005.
Distributor	California Spatial Information Library.

Data	California Managed Areas.
Access	View online interactive map: ICEMAP2. (web site)
Detail	This layer depicts land ownership and management of California, distinguishing local, state, and federal jurisdictions from private lands and delineating areas managed for the long-term maintenance of natural ecological processes and biodiversity. This layer therefore contains attributes both for ownership and for the level of biodiversity protection. Developed by the UC Santa Barbara Biogeography Lab. (Link to detailed metadata is broken, 9/2007.)
Distributor	Information Center for the Environment.

Data	Government Land Ownership.
Access	View online interactive map. (web site)
Detail	Classification (by government agency) of publicly-owned land in California. (Link to detailed metadata is broken, 9/2007.)
Distributor	Information Center for the Environment.

Data	California Statewide Property Inventory.
Access	Search non-spatial online database. (web site)
Detail	State-owned and state-leased property. Current.
Distributor	California Department of General Services.

Data	Real Property Inventory: Comprehensive Parcel List by Name.
Access	Photocopy document at UC Irvine Library. (web site)
Detail	List of real property ownership in the southern coast bioregion, developed by California Department of Fish and Game. 1995.
Distributor	California Environmental Information Catalog.

Leases and Other Use Authorizations

Aquaculture and Shellfish

Data	California Statewide Property Inventory.
Access	Search non-spatial online database. (web site)
Detail	State-owned and state-leased property. Includes kelp bed leases and presumably includes any other submerged lands live-resource and aquaculture leases. Current.
Distributor	California Department of General Services.

Other Use Authorizations

Data	California Statewide Property Inventory.
Access	Search non-spatial online database. (web site)
Detail	State-owned and state-leased property. Includes kelp bed leases and presumably includes any other submerged lands live-resource and aquaculture leases. Current.
Distributor	California Department of General Services.

Marine Managed Areas

Data	Marine Protected Areas
Access	Marine Protected Areas (web site)
Detail	California existing MPAs – coordinates and KML files.
Distributor	Department of Fish and Game

Local Parcel Information

All county sites facilitate parcel property characteristics search by using either the parcel number or street address. Some counties appear to have no data available electronically, as noted in comments. California Government code section 6254.21 prohibits the displaying of names and addresses on government websites.

Alameda County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

Contra Costa County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.
Other Data	County map can be zoomed in on, but no ownership information is available. (Web site)

Del Norte County

Deed Records	No obvious online information. (Web site)
Assessment Data	See above.
Parcels	See above.

Humboldt County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.
Other Data	Information on downloadable GIS data. (Web site) Specifics on accuracy etc., coastal zone metafile information. (Web site) or (Web site)

Los Angeles County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.
Other Data	Broad Beach Public Easement Map, California Coastal Commission, Public Access Program, July 2004. (Document Download) City of Malibu Local Coastal Program zoning, ESHA overlay and other LCP maps. (Document Download)

Marin County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Assessor's Records. (Web site)
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

Mendocino County

Deed Records	No obvious electronic resources. (Web site)
Assessment Data	See above.
Parcels	See above.

Monterey County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Assessor map page index. (Web site)
Parcels	Parcel map characteristics online request form. (Web site)

Napa County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

Orange County

Deed Records	Web site.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

San Diego County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Web site.

San Francisco

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Parcel number, address, zoning, parcel size. (Web site)

San Luis Obispo County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data
Parcels	Web site

San Mateo County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.
Other Data	GIS mapping system with built-in viewer; no easy access to parcel number. (Web site)

Santa Barbara County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

Santa Clara County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

Santa Cruz County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Web site.

Solano County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Look up property on a map, very nice image of actual zoning map with parcel number. (Web site)

Sonoma County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Web site.
Parcels	Availability of data not assessed.

Ventura County

Deed Records	Availability of data not assessed.
Assessment Data	Availability of data not assessed.
Parcels	Web site.

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1 TNC has received a first-cut inventory of the data from Marine Map which includes entities, data, and sources.