Using habitat to quantify ecological effects of restoration and water management alternatives

Hickey, John T.; Huff, Rochelle; Dunn, Christopher N.

doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.03.012

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…For rearing salmon habitat, ecohydrology can be based on broad considerations such as frequently activated floodplains [163], or by determining seasonal flow scenarios that have different combinations of frequency and duration [39]. For example, the Hydrologic Engineering Centers Ecosystem Functions Model (HEC-EFM) is capable of exploring a variety of statistical scenarios to develop ecohydrology [164].…”

Section: Ecohydraulic Scaling For Salmon Habitatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogeomorphic Scaling and Ecohydraulics for Designing Rescaled Channel and Floodplain Geometry in Regulated Gravel–Cobble Bed Rivers for Pacific Salmon Habitat

Brown

2022

Water

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Societies are increasingly restoring and/or rehabilitating rivers below dams for keystone species such as salmon. A fundamental concept for rehabilitating river morphology below dams for salmon is that a rescaled version of the river corridor synchronized to the regulated flow regime can restore habitat quantity and quality. Downscaled and resized hydrographs have been shown to provide environmental benefits to fish communities including salmon as well as riparian vegetation communities. However, less research exists on how this can be achieved through the topographic rescaling of heavily modified and regulated river corridors. The goal of this paper is to review analytical methods to determine initial of size of rescaled channel and floodplain mesohabitat units in regulated gravel–cobble bed rivers for Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) habitat using hydrogeomorphic scaling and ecohydraulics. Hydrogeomorphic flow scaling is the prediction of river morphology and geometry using empirical and analytical relationships. Ecohydraulic scaling refers to the use of ecohydrology, habitat suitability curves, and fish density relationships to determine the size of mesohabitat units for ecologically relevant flows. In practice, these are complimentary first order estimates of channel and floodplain configurations followed by iterative design in a hierarchical manner. This review advances the science of river design by synthesizing these complimentary ideologies for Pacific salmon habitat restoration in regulated rivers. Following the review, the layout of features is briefly discussed followed by a discussion of important considerations beyond the physical and topographic rescaling of river corridors for salmonid habitat restoration.

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Section: Ecohydraulic Scaling For Salmon Habitatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogeomorphic Scaling and Ecohydraulics for Designing Rescaled Channel and Floodplain Geometry in Regulated Gravel–Cobble Bed Rivers for Pacific Salmon Habitat

Brown

2022

Water

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“…To analyse the relationship between seedling establishment and streamflow hydrology, we used version 2.0 of the Ecosystem Functions Model (HEC‐EFM; Hickey, Huff, & Dunn, 2015; Hickey, 2017). Central to HEC‐EFM is the concept of functional relationships which link characteristics of hydrologic and hydraulic time series (flow and stage) to elements of the ecosystem through a combination of four basic criteria: timing, duration, rate of change, and frequency.…”

Section: Model Development and Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cross section (XS) downstream of splice (to left) has the higher local HEC‐EFM flow result as shown by its larger recruitment area extent. Figure adapted from Hickey et al (2015)…”

Section: Model Development and Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow‐ecology modelling to inform reservoir releases for riparian restoration and management

Hickey

Shafroth

Fields

2020

Hydrological Processes

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Linked hydrologic, hydraulic, and ecological models can facilitate planning and implementing water releases from reservoirs to achieve ecological objectives along rivers. We applied a flow‐ecology model, the Ecosystem Functions Model (HEC‐EFM), to the Bill Williams River in southwestern USA to estimate areas suitable for recruitment of riparian tree seedlings in the context of managing flow releases from a large dam for riparian restoration. Ecological variables in the model included timing of seed dispersal, tolerable rates of flow recession, and tolerable duration of inundation following germination and early seedling establishment for native Fremont cottonwood and Goodding's willow, and non‐native tamarisk. Hydrological variables included peak flow timing, rate of flow recession following the peak, and duration of inundation. A one‐dimensional hydraulic model was applied to estimate stage‐discharge relationships along ~58 river kilometres. We then used HEC‐EFM to apply relationships between seedling ecology and streamflow to link hydrological dynamics with ecological response. We developed and validated HEC‐EFM based on an examination of seedling recruitment following an experimental flow release from Alamo Dam in spring 2006. The model predicted the largest area of potential recruitment for cottonwood (280–481 ha), with smaller areas predicted for willow (174–188 ha) and tamarisk (59–60 ha). Correlations between observed and predicted patches with successful seedling recruitment for areas within 40 m of the main channel ranged from 0.66 to 0.94. Finally, we examined arrays of hydrographs to identify which are most conducive to seedling recruitment along the river, given different combinations of peak flow, recession rate, and water volume released. Similar application of this model could be useful for informing reservoir management in the context of riparian restoration along other rivers facing similar challenges.

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“…The HEC Ecosystem Functions Model (HEC-EFM) software tool was used to calculate flows corresponding to different hydroperiods. HEC-EFM was developed to link hydraulic and hydrologic time series with ecosystem flow relationships: season, flow frequency, flow duration, and rate of change (Hickey et al 2015;HEC 2013). The program takes a time series and ecosystem flow relationship and calculates a specific flow value based on the criteria in the relationship.…”

Section: Ecological Metrics: Floodplain Plant Community Hydroperiodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Support System for Water and Environmental Resources in the Connecticut River Basin

Julian

Hickey

Fields

et al. 2016

J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage.

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This paper describes the development and application of a reservoir management decision support system for evaluating floodplain benefits and socioeconomic trade-offs of reservoir management alternatives in the Connecticut River watershed. The decision support system is composed of a reservoir system simulation model, an ecological model, and two river hydraulics models. The reservoir model simulated current operations at 73 reservoirs and flows at locations of interest in the Connecticut River watershed. Regulated flows from the reservoir model were compared with unregulated flows, both statistically and spatially, for a suite of environmental flow metrics based on inundation patterns related to floodplain vegetation communities. Analyses demonstrate use of the decision support system and show how its use illuminates (1) trends in existing hydrologic alteration for the Connecticut River mainstem and one of its tributaries, the Farmington River, and (2) management scenarios that might have ecological benefits for floodplain plant communities. The decision support system was used to test two management scenarios to assess potential floodplain benefits and associated trade-offs in hydropower generation and flood risk. The process described shows the usefulness of large-scale reservoir management decision support systems that incorporate environmental considerations in assisting with watershed planning and environmental flow implementation.

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Using habitat to quantify ecological effects of restoration and water management alternatives

Cited by 14 publications

References 16 publications

Hydrogeomorphic Scaling and Ecohydraulics for Designing Rescaled Channel and Floodplain Geometry in Regulated Gravel–Cobble Bed Rivers for Pacific Salmon Habitat

Hydrogeomorphic Scaling and Ecohydraulics for Designing Rescaled Channel and Floodplain Geometry in Regulated Gravel–Cobble Bed Rivers for Pacific Salmon Habitat

Flow‐ecology modelling to inform reservoir releases for riparian restoration and management

Decision Support System for Water and Environmental Resources in the Connecticut River Basin

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