Quantifying the hydrological effects of stream restoration in a montane meadow, northern California, USA

Abstract

Stream restoration efforts, particularly within meadow systems, increasingly rely on 'pond and plug' type methods in which (a) alluvial materials are excavated from the floodplain, forming ponds; (b) excavated alluvial materials are used to plug incised channels and (c) smaller dimension channels are restored to the floodplain surface. A commonly stated objective of these efforts is to restore ecologically significant hydrological processes to degraded riparian systems. However, little research has been conducted to evaluate and quantify the restoration of these hydrological processes. Direct comparisons of pre-and post-restoration hydrological observations are often misleading due to an inter-annual climatic variability. To overcome this issue and accurately quantify the hydrological effects of restoration, we developed, calibrated and validated a hydrological model of a 230 ha mountain meadow along a 3.6 km restored reach of Bear Creek in the northeastern California. We then applied the model to simulate the pre-and post-restoration scenarios by altering the floodplain topography and stream channel networks. Our results document three general hydrological responses to the meadow restoration effort: (1) increased groundwater levels and volume of subsurface storage; (2) increased frequency/duration of floodplain inundation and decreased magnitude of flood peaks and (3) decreased annual runoff and duration of baseflow. This study supports and quantifies the hypothesis that 'pond and plug' type stream restoration projects have the capacity to re-establish hydrological processes necessary to sustain riparian systems. In addition, the results of this study can be used to improve quantitative objectives for 'pond and plug' type stream restoration activities in similar settings.

Using conspecific broadcast for Willow Flycatcher restoration

“…Habitat restoration and improvement actions at study sites included active hydrological restoration such as channel filling or "pond-and-plug," or management actions that eliminated stressors that may have originally contributed to flycatcher extirpation, such as excessive livestock grazing (Hammersmark et al 2008). …”

Modelling water-level options for ecosystem services and assessment of climate change: Loktak Lake, northeast India

“…It has been employed in a range of environments from small (<50 km 2 and in some studies <10 km 2 ) catchments (e.g. Sahoo et al 2006, Dai et al 2010, and wetlands within catchments (Hammersmark et al 2008, Thompson et al 2004), catchments of several hundreds or thousands of km 2 (e.g. Feyen et al 2000, Huang et al 2010 to major international river basins (Andersen et al 2001, Stisen et al 2008.…”

A Process-Based Application of State-and-Transition Models: A Case Study of Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) Encroachment

“…Sagebrush and herbaceous productivity is strongly tied to soil water recharge deep in the soil profile (Cline et al, 1977;Sturges, 1977;Richards and Caldwell, 1987;Caldwell and Richards, 1989;Ryel et al, 2004;Schlaepfer et al, 2012). Sage grouse also require seasonal high-elevation wet meadows, riparian areas, springs, and the associated forbs for late brood rearing in late summer/early autumn seasons Hammersmark et al, 2008;Loheide et al, 2009;Loheide and Gorelick, 2007). The sustainability of wet meadows, riparian areas, and springs is also intimately linked to the timing and magnitude of water delivery to the landscape (Whiting and Godsey, 2016).…”