Planning for Low-Tech PBR of Riverscapes

Introduction

We returned to the basic planning steps from the typical restoration process we introduced last semester. Here we use the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service's Conservation Planning Process (NRCS, 2007), as an example of the restoration planning process and then elaborate on what aspects of that process are distinctive for low-tech restoration.

Resources

Lectures

See Module 3 - Planning and Planning Resources.

Module 3 Playlist

Half-Day Virtual Workshop

Old 2020 Slides

Manual Resources

This introduction corresponds to Chapter 3 from the Low-Tech PBR Design Manual:

Wheaton JM, Bennett SN, Bouwes N, Maestas J, and Shahverdian S (Editors). 2019. Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration of Riverscapes: Design Manual. Version 1.0. Utah State University Wheaton Ecogeomorphology & Topographic Analysis Lab. Logan, UT.

Example Low-Tech Planning Reports

These are some examples to inspire your homework on preparing a planning report:

Swale Creek Riverscape Restoration – 30% Design Report (PDF). Anabranch Solutions. 2021. Prepared for Yakama Nations Fisheries Program by Anabranch Solutions, LLC, Newton, UT. A 30% design (planning phase) of a small 0.5 mile portion of Trout Creek (tributary to Klickitat River). Location: Klickitat Watershed, Washington (Project-Scale)
Trout Creek Riverscape Restoration – 30% Design Report (PDF). Anabranch Solutions. 2021. Prepared for Yakama Nations Fisheries Program by Anabranch Solutions, LLC, Newton, UT. A 30% design (planning phase) of a small 0.75 mile portion of Swale Creek (tributary to Klickitat River). Location: Klickitat Watershed, Washington (Project-Scale)
Upper Thirty Mile Creek Riverscape Restoration Plan (PDF). Anabranch Solutions. 2021. Prepared for Gilliam County Soil and Water Conservation District by Anabranch Solutions, LLC, Newton, UT. A coarse plan for ~5.7 miles of mainstem habitat within the Thirtymile Creek watershed. Fact Sheet (PDF). Location: John Day Watershed, Oregon (Project-Scale)
Ackerson Meadow Alternative 3: Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration Planning & Design Report (PDF). Shahverdian S.M., Bennett S., Bouwes N., Purdy S. and Wheaton J. 2020. Prepared for National Park Service by Anabranch Solutions, LLC, Newton, UT. A rapid remote planning and design report for NEPA Alternatives Analysis in Yosemite National Park. Location: Ackerson Meadow, California (Project-Scale)
Baugh Creek Post-Fire Emergency Restoration – Prioritizing and Planning Post-Fire Restoration in the Baugh Creek Watershed (PDF). Shahverdian, S.M., Bennett, S. and Wheaton, J., 2018. Prepared for Rebecca Patton by Anabranch Solutions, LLC, Newton, UT. A rapid assessment of current conditions and recovery potential following the 65,000 acre Sharp's fire to plan for emergency low-tech post-fire restoration. Location: Baugh Creek, Idaho (Project-Scale)
Grouse Creek Watershed Restoration Plan (PDF). Shahverdian, S., Portugal, E., Camp Reid, J., Macfarlane, W.W., Sorenson, K. and Wheaton, J.M., 2017. Prepared for Utah Division of Wildlife Resources by Ecogeomorphology & Topographic Analysis Lab, Utah State University, Logan, UT. The watershed scoping and planning associated with a low-tech PBR demonstration project with Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative and Utah Division of Wildlife. Location: Grouse Creek, Utah (Network-Scale)
Pine Creek Watershed Scoping Plan for Restoration (PDF). Portugal E, Wheaton JM and Bouwes N. 2015. Prepared for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs. Logan UT, 52 pp. An example of a Watershed Scoping plan to look at feasibility of using BDAs in a small watershed. Location: Pine Creek, Oregon (Network-Scale)

See Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration Planning Resources for more examples.

Report Template

You can use this Google Docs LTPBR Report template as a rough start. We show you how to use it in the video below:

Conservation Planning Resources

Conservation Planning
NRCS Conservation Practice Standards
The NRCS Conservation Planning Process is used in stream restoration and described in:
- NRCS, 2007. Chapter 2: Goals, Objectives, and Risk. In: J. Bernard, J. Fripp and K. Robinson (Editors), Stream Restoration Design: Part 654 - National Engineering Handbook. United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington D.C., pp. 34

Leveraging QRiS

Resources to Support Study Site Description

This 40 minute video shows you some of the things you can do with QRiS to get contextual informaiton for supporting writing your Study Site Description.

If you have never made a map in QGIS, check out this tutorial.

Analyses in QRiS

This little video shows you how to get started in QRiS and go from having nothing, to calculating some metrics in under 20 minutes (the only data needed is a basemap):