Well look what the end of June sent our way. Just in time for the debut article about Doty Ravine in in the Sacramento Bee we get a fine scientific paper published all about it. From the people who know it best.
Design Criteria for Process-Based Restoration of Fluvial Systems
Abstract
Process-based restoration of fluvial systems removes human constraints on nature to promote ecological recovery. By freeing natural processes, a resilient ecosystem may be restored with minimal corrective intervention. However, there is a lack of meaningful design criteria to allow designers to evaluate whether a project is likely to achieve process-based restoration objectives. We describe four design criteria to evaluate a project’s potential: the expansion of fluvial process space and connectivity lost because of human alterations, the use of intrinsic natural energy to do the work of restoration, the use of native materials that do not overstabilize project elements, and the explicit incorporation of time and adaptive management into project design to place sites on recovery trajectories as opposed to attempts to “restore” sites via a single intervention. Applications include stream and infrastructure design and low-carbon construction. An example is presented in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills.
That would be Doty Ravine in Placer county. But you knew that already didn’t you? Aside from featuring the brilliant minds of THREE helpers at the California Beaver Summit it also has some very solid advice about how to evaluate constructions and source materials. It also has some amazing artwork to explain its thesis.
Beautifully done isn’t it? The entire article is available online and you can access it here. Just in time because people after the summit were asking about the science of PBR and what the data showed. On the VERY SAME DAY a similar paper was published by Ellen Wohl and a host of friends, including Brian Cluer who is the helpful NOAA scientist who assisted in finding the right summit lineup.
River-wetland corridors form where a high degree of connectivity between the surface (rheic) and subsurface (hyporheic) components of streamflow creates an interconnected system of channels, wetlands, ponds, and lakes. River-wetland corridors occur where the valley floor is sufficiently wide to accommodate a laterally unconfined river planform that may feature morphologically complex, multi-threaded channels with vegetated bars, islands, and floodplains. River-wetland corridors can develop anywhere there is valley expansion along a drainage network, from the headwaters to estuaries or deltas, and they are found across all latitudes and within all biomes and hydroclimates. River-wetland corridors may be longitudinally continuous but are commonly interspersed with single-thread reaches in narrower portions of the valley. The development and persistence of river-wetland corridors is driven by combinations of geologic, biotic, and geomorphic processes that create a river environment that is diverse, heterogeneous, patchy, and dynamically stable, and within which patterns of flow, sediment features, and habitats shift continually. Hence, we describe these polydimensional river corridors as “kaleidoscope rivers.” Historically, river-wetland corridors were pervasive in wide, alluvial valley reaches, but their presence has been so diminished worldwide (due to a diverse range of anthropogenic activities and impacts) that the general public and even most river managers are unaware of their former pervasiveness. Here, we define river-wetland corridors as a river type; review paleoenvironmental and historical records to establish their past ubiquity; describe the geologic, biotic, and geomorphic processes responsible for their formation and persistence; and provide examples of river-wetland corridor remnants that still survive. We close by highlighting the significance of the diverse river functions supported by river-wetland corridors, the consequences of diminution and neglect of this river type, and the implications for river restoration.
You can bet both papers generously mention our friend Mr Beaver. And you can bet both will be used as fire power for some pretty high value targets. You can access Ellen’s paper here.
Lots to talk and read about. I would write more but I have a lot of catching up to do.
