An experimental habitat enhancement effort for a sandy river: San Rafael River restoration project

Transcription

1 An experimental habitat enhancement effort for a sandy river: San Rafael River restoration project Samuel Lyster Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University Brian G. Laub Department of Watershed Sciences, The Ecology Center, Utah State University Justin Jimenez Bureau of Land Management Phaedra Budy US Geological Survey, Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University

2 Outline The Project The River The Experiments The Results and lessons learned

3 Guiding vision The San Rafael River is a dynamic riverine ecosystem and is functioning to provide necessary and sufficient habitat to ensure persistence of native aquatic and riparian species. 1. Recover self-sustaining populations of the three species and other native fish in the San Rafael River (Two tiers) a. Maintain and enhance connectivity between the upper and lower San Rafael River and the Green River b. Increase populations of the three species and other native fishes throughout the San Rafael River 2. Ensure persistence of native riparian vegetation, including willow stands and cottonwood stands with several age classes 3. Provide necessary and sufficient habitat to ensure persistence of native fish and vegetation 4. Conduct sufficient monitoring of restoration impacts to quantitatively assess whether the restoration actions are accomplishing the restoration objectives and to determine the causes of success or failure

4 The Project Biosphere Fish Fish Riparian Veg Fish response Hydrosphere Geosphere Planning Implementation Geomorphic history San Rafael Restoration and Monitoring Plan Habitat response Tamarisk removal, Beaver dam analogs, Gravel Bars

5 The River Green River Public land Private dams Highly regulated Many stakeholders: Agriculture Industry (2 coal fired power plants) Recreation (Little Grand Canyon, river running, off-roading Highly endemic and threatened fish 5

6 San Rafael Swell Biosphere The Three Species Endemic and threatened Desert Reach: Lower population of native fish Confluence with Green River 6

7 Desert Reach: Lower population of native fish Biosphere - competition and predation from non-native fish - dewatering during dry periods - increased water temperatures and - lack of complex habitat (riffles, pools, and backwaters (Bottcher 2009, Budy et al. 2009, Walsworth 2011, Keller 2012). - native fish observed in the lower San Rafael River where complex habitat is available (Bottcher 2009). 7

8 Hydrology Reduced snowmelt flows Summer/Fall monsoons Mean Annual Precipitation (mm) ,

9 Articles, Reports and Theses

10 Half a century of sediment delivery with no 1917 spring runoff ~

11 The Experiment The challenge: restoring a river without any water Pilot project: - Experiment with 3 restoration interventions and evaluate their success: 1) Tamarisk removal 2) Beaver dam analogs 3) Artificial gravel bars Location of pilot project 11

12 Tamarisk removal Treatment 63 acres 12

13 Tamarisk Removal Objectives Encourage lateral channel migration Increase wood inputs to river Pre-Flood Promote native vegetation establishment Limited access to floodplain Poor timing Post-Flood

14 Beaver

15 Beaver Dam Analogs 8 complexes; 34 structures 15

16 Beaver Dam Analogs Outcomes 31 of 34 structures breached most structures provided local increases in topographic complexity Bank scour 16

17 Mixed sand and gravel bar deposit Beaver Dam Analogs BDA 15 m 17

18 2 bars ~60 tons each Artificial Gravel Bars 18

19 kg/m 2 Artificial Gravel Bars Increased amount of exposed gravels in the bed downstream of the bar Tracer study provided insight on the sources and sinks of native gravel Exposed gravel Gravel bar 19

20 20

21 Lessons learned 1. Baby steps 2. Monitor 3. Adapt 21

22 Acknowledgements Funding Bureau of Reclamation Bureau of Land Management National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Utah Division of Wildlife Resources US Geological Survey Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative People Researchers Jared Bottcher, Tim Walsworth, Steve Fortney San Rafael Team Paul Birdsey, Jeff Brower, Dave Dean, Dan Eddington, Ian Gowing, Carl Ivory, Jeremy Jarnecke, Dan Keller, Wally Macfarlane, Peter MacKinnon, Milada Majerova, Chris McGinty, Cassie Mellon, Justin Miner, Elijah Portugal, Jared Reese, Jack Schmidt, Mike Scott, Dave Speas, Gary Thiede, Dana Truman, Peter Wilcock, Krissy Wilson, et al. Plan Reviewers Paul Badame, Melissa Dickard, Julie Knudson, Thomas Mendenhall, Christine Rasmussen, Michael Roberts, Janice Staats People Beaver Analogs Ben Stout, Kelsey Ballard, Alex Walker, Others: Angela, David, Jayla, Jordan, Michaela, Mike, Nicole, Sean, TJ

23 Questions 23

24 Articles, Reports and Theses Bottcher, J. L. (2009). Maintaining Population Persistence in the Face of an Extremely Altered Hydrograph : Implications for Three Sensitive Fishes in a Tributary of the Green River, Utah. 73. Bottcher, J. L., Walsworth, T. E., Thiede, G. P., Budy, P., and Speas, D. W. (2013). Frequent Usage of Tributaries by the Endangered Fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin: Observations from the San Rafael River, Utah. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 33(3), Budy, P., Bottcher, J., and Thiede, G. P. (2009). Habitat needs, movement patterns, and vital rates of endemic Utah fishes in a tributary to the Green River, Utah. Fortney, S. (2013a). Thesis Chapter 3: Channel Change on the lower San Rafael River, UT. Utah State University. Fortney, S. (2013b). Thesis Chapter 2 : Geomorphic Organization of the lower 90 kilometers of the San Rafael River. Utah State University. Fortney, S. T., Schmidt, J. C., and Dean, D. J. (2011). Final Report Establishing the geomorphic context for wetland and riverine restoration of the San Rafael River. Logan, UT. Laub, B. (2013). Restoration and Monitoring Plan for Native Fish and Riparian Vegetation on the San Rafael River, Utah. Logan. Laub, B. G., and Budy, P. (2015). Assessing the likely effectiveness of multispecies management for imperiled desert fishes with niche overlap analysis. Conservation Biology, 00(11). Macfarlane, W. W., and McGinty, C. M. (2012). Fine Scale Riparian Vegetation Mapping Lower San Rafael River Report to the Bureau of Land Management. BLM. (2014). Ch.1-2, Environmental Assessment, Lower San Rafael River Restoration Project, DOI-BLM-UT-G EA. Price, UT. Walsworth, T. (2011). Analysis of food web effects of non-native fishes and evaluation of stream restoration potential for the San Rafael River, Utah Walsworth, T. E., Budy, P., and Thiede, G. P. (2013). Longer food chains and crowded niche space: effects of multiple invaders on desert stream food web structure. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 22(3),