Documenting Recovery of a Stream/Riparian System at the Jordan River Migratory BIrd Reserve
Location
USU Eccles Conference Center
Event Website
http://www.restoringthewest.org/
Abstract
Great Salt Lake Audubon (GSLA) has been enhancing/restoring approximately 130 acres of riparian habitat at the Jordan River Migratory Bird Reserve (JRMBR) in South Jordan, UT since 1998. In 2007, GSLA and the Utah Reclamation, Mitigation and Conservation Commission (URMCC) re-aligned Little Willow Creek through a portion of the reserve. Little Willow Creek primarily receives streamflow from the Wasatch Mountains and urban stormwater runoff. Restoration activities conducted since 1998 include salt cedar and Russian olive eradication, willow and cottonwood plantings, and upland shrub plantings. In 2011, Allison Jones, Chris Cline, and the GSLA restoration team conducted a baseline stream/riparian function survey with the Rapid StreamRiparian Assessment Protocol (RSRA) along Little Willow Creek to assess channel and riparian conditions four years post construction. During mid-2013 through 2015, beaver were welcomed on the reserve by GSLA and the new Reserve Manger Karri Smith. Additionally, beginning in December 2013, large-scale restoration planting, seeding, and weed control activities were implemented to bring restoration of the entire 130-acre reserve to completion. In 2015 Little Willow Creek was resurveyed using RSRA. This reassessment of the 2011 baseline stream reach detected significant in-stream channel conditioFlan and riparian and wetland habitat improvement. Overall improvements include: decreased non-native tree cover, increased channel shading, increased floodplain connectivity (at bank full), improved vertical bank stability, increased hydraulic habitat diversity, increased under bank cover, and increased shrub cover, mid-canopy cover/patch density, riparian tree demography/recruitment, and fluvial habitat diversity. It is the opinion of the Reserve Manager and co-authors that beaver are responsible for a significant degree of the observable improvements and the significant increase in field indicator scores when comparing the 2015 RSRA assessment to the 2011 assessment. Large-scale restoration plantings and management has also hastened restoration of Little Willow Creek and the greater Jordan River Migratory Bird Reserve.
Documenting Recovery of a Stream/Riparian System at the Jordan River Migratory BIrd Reserve
USU Eccles Conference Center
Great Salt Lake Audubon (GSLA) has been enhancing/restoring approximately 130 acres of riparian habitat at the Jordan River Migratory Bird Reserve (JRMBR) in South Jordan, UT since 1998. In 2007, GSLA and the Utah Reclamation, Mitigation and Conservation Commission (URMCC) re-aligned Little Willow Creek through a portion of the reserve. Little Willow Creek primarily receives streamflow from the Wasatch Mountains and urban stormwater runoff. Restoration activities conducted since 1998 include salt cedar and Russian olive eradication, willow and cottonwood plantings, and upland shrub plantings. In 2011, Allison Jones, Chris Cline, and the GSLA restoration team conducted a baseline stream/riparian function survey with the Rapid StreamRiparian Assessment Protocol (RSRA) along Little Willow Creek to assess channel and riparian conditions four years post construction. During mid-2013 through 2015, beaver were welcomed on the reserve by GSLA and the new Reserve Manger Karri Smith. Additionally, beginning in December 2013, large-scale restoration planting, seeding, and weed control activities were implemented to bring restoration of the entire 130-acre reserve to completion. In 2015 Little Willow Creek was resurveyed using RSRA. This reassessment of the 2011 baseline stream reach detected significant in-stream channel conditioFlan and riparian and wetland habitat improvement. Overall improvements include: decreased non-native tree cover, increased channel shading, increased floodplain connectivity (at bank full), improved vertical bank stability, increased hydraulic habitat diversity, increased under bank cover, and increased shrub cover, mid-canopy cover/patch density, riparian tree demography/recruitment, and fluvial habitat diversity. It is the opinion of the Reserve Manager and co-authors that beaver are responsible for a significant degree of the observable improvements and the significant increase in field indicator scores when comparing the 2015 RSRA assessment to the 2011 assessment. Large-scale restoration plantings and management has also hastened restoration of Little Willow Creek and the greater Jordan River Migratory Bird Reserve.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/rtw/2015/Posters/12
Comments
Allison Jones is the Executive Director, Wild Utah Project