Water Resources Research: River Restoration

1. Water Resources Research: River Restoration Katie Halvorson

2. Main point: “Many river restoration projects are conducted with minimal scientific context.”

3. Their definition of river restoration: “assisting the establishment of improved hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological processes in a degraded watershed system and replacing lost, damaged, or compromised elements of the natural system”

4. The two ideas: • Restoration of PROCESS is more likely to succeed insteadofa fixed end point. • Only addresses symptoms • Needs to be looked at in the context of an entire watershed.

5. Limitations: • Lack of scientific knowledge of watershed-scale projects • Dynamics of watershed • Structures that are poorly suited to large-scale management • Lack of political support

6. Three common factors limiting river function: Transferring knowledge from one study to another Restoration actions are applied to too small of scales Integrating disciplinary knowledge into interdisciplinary understanding.

7. Quick fixes = not good Bank stabilization Fencing Engineering fish habitat Commercial uses Esthetic interests Recreational uses

8. Study • >38,000 restoration projects in US • Most commonly stated goals: • Enhance water quality • Manage riparian zones • Improve in-stream habitat • Fish passage • Bank stabilization No complete watershed idea

9. “many restoration activities have failed”

10. Strategy for achieving vision Continually develop theoretical framework that allows achieving restoration objectives. Develop studies examining relative contributions of processes operating at different time and space scales. Enhance the science and use of restoration monitoring. Link science, practitioners, and stakeholders.

11. Thank you!