HR: 09:40h
AN: H31J-07    [Abstracts]
TI: A Conceptual Framework for Post-Project Assessment Applied to the Provo River Restoration Project, Utah
AU: * Goetz, R R
EM: randy.goetz@gmail.com
AF: Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Natural Resources Bldg Rm 210, Logan, UT 84322,
AU: Schmidt, J C
EM: jschmidt@cc.usu.edu
AF: Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Natural Resources Bldg Rm 210, Logan, UT 84322,
AU: Erwin, S
EM: s.erwin@aggiemail.usu.edu
AF: Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Natural Resources Bldg Rm 210, Logan, UT 84322,
AU: Gooseff, M N
EM: mgooseff@engr.psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, 212 Sackett Bldg, University Park, PA 16802,
AB: Comprehensive assessment of stream restoration projects necessitates evaluation of: 1) the actual pre-project condition in relation to the public perception of impairment, 2) the project concept, goals, and objectives, 3) the project design, 4) the project as actually built, and 5) the project performance. We applied this framework in assessing the recently completed Provo River Restoration Project (PRRP). Begun in 1999 and completed in 2007, the PRRP's budget was 10 million for construction of approximately 16 km of channel and adjacent floodplain wetlands. We analyzed project planning documents, design documents, and made field measurements of the Provo River channel before and after channel re-alignment. Although the impaired, pre-project channel was never explicitly measured by restoration designers, our measurements demonstrate that the bed material organization and floodplain inundation frequency was perturbed from those attributes typical of channels in similar physiographic settings. Project designers did not develop quantitative project goals, and there were no metrics by which performance success was to be measured. Design documents demonstrate that the realigned channel has the potential to re-establish channel and floodplain connection. Surprisingly, there were significant differences between design and as-built channel geometry. These discrepancies have the potential to adversely impact project performance in re-establishing the ecosystem benefits provided by a naturalized channel/floodplain connection. However, field construction of a channel whose capacity is larger than designed has been compensated by a hydrologic regime whose common floods have been larger than anticipated. In addition, the original channel design did not explicitly consider sediment supply, which has the potential to rearrange reconstructed channel elements in the downstream part of the project. Collectively, this analysis demonstrates the degree of uncertainty and ambiguity associated with channel restoration design, the potentially significant differences between design and as-built channels, and the critical need to evaluate project performance by metrics such as changes in the distribution and characteristics of spawning gravels, frequency of floodplain disturbance, impact on in-stream temperature, and changes in hyporheic function.
DE: 1825 Geomorphology: fluvial (1625)
DE: 1834 Human impacts
DE: 1856 River channels (0483, 0744)
DE: 1880 Water management (6334)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting