In 2005, a 550-acre tract of agricultural land containing two small streams near La Grande, Oregon was registered in the U.S. Federal Wetlands Reserve Program. This designation was part of a plan to reclaim and restor...In 2005, a 550-acre tract of agricultural land containing two small streams near La Grande, Oregon was registered in the U.S. Federal Wetlands Reserve Program. This designation was part of a plan to reclaim and restore the wetland to its natural state. Initial efforts at the End Creek Restoration Project restored both End Creek and South Fork Willow Creek to a natural course through rechanneling, and several plantings had restored some of the native flora. Since its establishment, the End Creek streams and floodplain have become a reserve for summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a threatened anadromous salmonid, and many migratory birds. The threatened Columbia Spotted Frog has also established itself in some of the ponds. As part of an effort to establish a baseline for water quality, we monitored total springtime coliform and fecal coliform bacteria in three of the End Creek ponds for three years. The results of this study indicate that, throughout any given spring, the numbers of both coliform and fecal coliform bacteria can fluctuate markedly among ponds on any given day, and that in any particular pond the numbers fluctuate from week to week. In addition, our analysis suggests that in early spring, the numbers of these organisms also fluctuate from year to year. The causes of these fluctuations are not well understood, but are expected to reflect both springtime flooding and the migrations of source animals such as waterfowl and cervids. Information gathered from this study will help inform future management activities on the wetland.展开更多
Rapid response is critical following natural disasters like wildfire. Fire, runoff, and erosion risks are highly heterogeneous in space, creating an urgent need for rapid, spatially-explicit assessment. In the past, d...Rapid response is critical following natural disasters like wildfire. Fire, runoff, and erosion risks are highly heterogeneous in space, creating an urgent need for rapid, spatially-explicit assessment. In the past, data preparation has been time consuming and expensive, resulting in extensive losses in values-at-risk (VARs). The Rapid Response Erosion Database (RRED, http://rred.mtri.org/rred/) allows researchers and land managers to access properly-formatted spatial model inputs for the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) anywhere within the continental US and eventually beyond. Comprehensive support for post-fire hydrological modeling is provided by allowing users to upload spatial soil burn severity maps, and within moments download spatial model inputs. The database has been used to help assess and plan remediation on more than a dozen wildfires in the Western U.S. RRED has already saved $694,000 between May 2016-December 2018 in administrative costs. In the future, the potential to save time and money on data preparation can extend beyond wildfire to include tracking contaminated sediments, agricultural pollution, and construction site erosion. RRED may also be a useful tool to protect VARs as illustrated by our analysis of recreation, property values, and clean drinking water.展开更多
文摘In 2005, a 550-acre tract of agricultural land containing two small streams near La Grande, Oregon was registered in the U.S. Federal Wetlands Reserve Program. This designation was part of a plan to reclaim and restore the wetland to its natural state. Initial efforts at the End Creek Restoration Project restored both End Creek and South Fork Willow Creek to a natural course through rechanneling, and several plantings had restored some of the native flora. Since its establishment, the End Creek streams and floodplain have become a reserve for summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a threatened anadromous salmonid, and many migratory birds. The threatened Columbia Spotted Frog has also established itself in some of the ponds. As part of an effort to establish a baseline for water quality, we monitored total springtime coliform and fecal coliform bacteria in three of the End Creek ponds for three years. The results of this study indicate that, throughout any given spring, the numbers of both coliform and fecal coliform bacteria can fluctuate markedly among ponds on any given day, and that in any particular pond the numbers fluctuate from week to week. In addition, our analysis suggests that in early spring, the numbers of these organisms also fluctuate from year to year. The causes of these fluctuations are not well understood, but are expected to reflect both springtime flooding and the migrations of source animals such as waterfowl and cervids. Information gathered from this study will help inform future management activities on the wetland.
文摘Rapid response is critical following natural disasters like wildfire. Fire, runoff, and erosion risks are highly heterogeneous in space, creating an urgent need for rapid, spatially-explicit assessment. In the past, data preparation has been time consuming and expensive, resulting in extensive losses in values-at-risk (VARs). The Rapid Response Erosion Database (RRED, http://rred.mtri.org/rred/) allows researchers and land managers to access properly-formatted spatial model inputs for the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) anywhere within the continental US and eventually beyond. Comprehensive support for post-fire hydrological modeling is provided by allowing users to upload spatial soil burn severity maps, and within moments download spatial model inputs. The database has been used to help assess and plan remediation on more than a dozen wildfires in the Western U.S. RRED has already saved $694,000 between May 2016-December 2018 in administrative costs. In the future, the potential to save time and money on data preparation can extend beyond wildfire to include tracking contaminated sediments, agricultural pollution, and construction site erosion. RRED may also be a useful tool to protect VARs as illustrated by our analysis of recreation, property values, and clean drinking water.
