Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal of the American Water Resources Association
Volume
55
Issue
2
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date
1-11-2019
Award Number
NSF, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) 1653452
Funder
NSF, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET)
First Page
1
Last Page
50
Referenced by
Kraft, M., S. Null (2018). Optimizing Barrier Removal in Utah's Weber Basin, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/889b9ccbb0c7407ea9a5a1b5d2bbb935
Abstract
Instream barriers, such as dams, culverts, and diversions, alter hydrologic processes and aquatic habitat. Removing uneconomical and aging instream barriers is increasingly used for river restoration. Historically, selection of barrier removal projects used score‐and‐rank techniques, ignoring cumulative change and the spatial structure of stream networks. Likewise, most water supply models prioritize either human water uses or aquatic habitat, failing to incorporate both human and environmental water use benefits. Here, a dual‐objective optimization model identifies barriers to remove that maximize connected aquatic habitat and minimize water scarcity. Aquatic habitat is measured using monthly average streamflow, temperature, channel gradient, and geomorphic condition as indicators of aquatic habitat suitability. Water scarcity costs are minimized using economic penalty functions while a budget constraint specifies the money available to remove barriers. We demonstrate the approach using a case study in Utah's Weber Basin to prioritize removal of instream barriers for Bonneville cutthroat trout, while maintaining human water uses. Removing 54 instream barriers reconnects about 160 km of quality‐weighted habitat and costs approximately US$10 M. After this point, the cost‐effectiveness of removing barriers to connect river habitat decreases. The modeling approach expands barrier removal optimization methods by explicitly including both economic and environmental water uses.
Recommended Citation
Kraft, M., Rosenberg, D.E., and Null, S.E.. 2019. “ Prioritizing Stream Barrier Removal to Maximize Connected Aquatic Habitat and Minimize Water Scarcity.” Journal of the American Water Resources Association 55 ( 2): 382– 400. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12718.
Comments
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article:
Kraft, M., Rosenberg, D.E., and Null, S.E.. 2019. “ Prioritizing Stream Barrier Removal to Maximize Connected Aquatic Habitat and Minimize Water Scarcity.” Journal of the American Water Resources Association 55 ( 2): 382– 400. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12718., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12718. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.