This polygon shapefile represents land use and land cover for the Pajaro River and San Benito River Watershed in San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties of California for 2005. This shapefile was extracted from a generalized land use/land cover database of the Salinas-Pajaro region. Map unit categories were based on a modified Anderson Level II hierarchy. Mapping generally adhered to a 0.5 acre Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU) for riparian and agriculture types and 1 acre MMU for all upland, urban, or other land use types. Vegetation percent cover classes were assigned to the tree and shrub layers for each stand. Herbaceous vegetation was not assigned a cover class. All density values are measured in absolute cover, not relative cover. If tree cover is equal to or greater than 40% then the shrub cover is assigned a Not Assessed value of 9. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) resolution size of the land use/land cover polygons is twofold. In the intense agricultural region and for wetland and riparian areas the polygons have a 0.5 acre MMU. In the remainder of the study area, composed of non-agricultural areas, upland vegetation, and urban areas, the MMU is 1 acre. For thin linear-shaped polygons the MMU for width is one half the width of a full MMU square. Exceptions to the MMU guidance are noted in further criteria below. Because of the agricultural emphasis of the project, large urban developed areas, such as cities, towns, and villages, were not typically further subdivided other than for agricultural uses within their extents. The MMU size for these agricultural uses within urban areas is 0.5 acres. As noted above, the study area overlaps with the 2005 mapping of the Salinas River and San Benito river major riparian corridors that Aerial Information Systems, Inc. conducted for the Nature Conservancy. The MMU for the original projects was <0.5 acres. Where those units had not changed for 2005 and 2012 mapping, the map units were kept at the original polygon size. The 0.5 acre MMU is used for new mapping of riparian and wetland map units. Other Mapping Criteria includes photo interpretation of land cover is based on state-wide criteria for vegetation mapping.

The zoning112002.shp layer represents the zoning designations for all unincorporated areas of Monterey County. This digital map is meant to replicate and replace the county's existing hardcopy zoning maps. There are currently 45 areas that have been labeled 'Under Review' in this layer. Zoning for projects in one of these areas will have to be determined using the hardcopy Sectional District Maps.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Stanford University contracted Aerial Information Systems, Inc. to develop a 2005 and 2012 Anderson Level II terrestrial Land Use/Land Cover map for a portion of the Salinas Valley in Monterey County and portions of several valleys in the greater Pajaro River and San Benito River watershed in San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties, to support research and future modeling efforts in the area.

The Industrial Hemp Pilot Program is a limited pilot program for cultivation and processing of industrial hemp in certian inland unincorporated areas of Monterey County. These areas are covered by the HMP (Hemp) zoning district overlay to properties specifically within the North County and South County Planning Areas.

This dataset is a subset of the authoritative 2018 FMMP shapefiles sourced from California's Department of Conservation Farmland Mapping & Monitoring Program website at https://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/fmmp. This dataset only displays Important Farmlands within Monterey County limits.Established in 1982, Government Code Section 65570 mandates FMMP to biennially report on the conversion of farmland and grazing land, and to provide maps and data to local government and the public.The Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program (FMMP) provides data to decision makers for use in planning for the present and future use of California's agricultural land resources. The data is a current inventory of agricultural resources. This data is for general planning purposes and has a minimum mapping unit of ten acres.