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• 1. [Article] Relationships Between Environmental Governance and Water Quality in a Growing Metropolitan Area of the Pacific Northwest, USA

  We investigate relationships between environmental governance and water quality in two adjacent growing metropolitan areas in the western US. While the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington metro ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Relationships Between Environmental Governance and Water Quality in a Growing Metropolitan Area of the Pacific Northwest, USA Author: Chang, Heejun, Thiers, Paul R., Netusil, Noelwah R., Yeakley, J. Alan, Rollwagen-Bollens, Gretchen, Bollens, Steve, Singh, Sonia Year: 2014 We investigate relationships between environmental governance and water quality in two adjacent growing metropolitan areas in the western US. While the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington metro areas share many common biophysical characteristics, they have different land development histories and water governance structures, providing a unique opportunity for examining how differences in governance might affect environmental quality. We conceptualize possible linkages in which water quality influences governance directly, using monitoring efforts as a metric, and indirectly by using the change in the sale price of single-family residential properties. Governance may then influence water quality directly through riparian restoration resulting from monitoring results and indirectly through land use policy.We investigate evidence to substantiate these linkages. Our results showed that changes in monitoring regimes and land development patterns differed in response to differences in growth management policy and environmental governance systems. Our results also showed similarities in environmental quality responses to varying governance systems. For example, we found that sales prices responded positively to improved water quality (e.g., increases in DO and reductions in bacteria counts) in both cities. Furthermore, riparian restoration efforts improved over time for both cities, indicating the positive effect of governance on this land-based resource that may result in improved water quality. However, as of yet, there were no substantial differences across study areas in water temperature over time, despite an expansion of these urban areas of more than 20%over 24 years. The mechanisms by which water quality was maintained was similar in the sense that both cities benefited from riparian restoration, but different in the sense that Portland benefited indirectly from land use policy. A combination of long-term legacy effects of land development, and a relatively short history of riparian restoration in both the Portland and Vancouver regions, may have masked any subtle differences between study areas. An alternative explanation is that both cities exhibited combinations of positive indirect and direct water quality governance that resulted in maintenance of water quality in the face of increased urban growth. These findings suggest that a much longer-term water quality monitoring effort is needed to identify the effectiveness of alternative land development and water governance policies Title: Relationships Between Environmental Governance and Water Quality in a Growing Metropolitan Area of the Pacific Northwest, USA Author: Chang, Heejun, Thiers, Paul R., Netusil, Noelwah R., Yeakley, J. Alan, Rollwagen-Bollens, Gretchen, Bollens, Steve, Singh, Sonia Year: 2014 We investigate relationships between environmental governance and water quality in two adjacent growing metropolitan areas in the western US. While the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington metro areas share many common biophysical characteristics, they have different land development histories and water governance structures, providing a unique opportunity for examining how differences in governance might affect environmental quality. We conceptualize possible linkages in which water quality influences governance directly, using monitoring efforts as a metric, and indirectly by using the change in the sale price of single-family residential properties. Governance may then influence water quality directly through riparian restoration resulting from monitoring results and indirectly through land use policy.We investigate evidence to substantiate these linkages. Our results showed that changes in monitoring regimes and land development patterns differed in response to differences in growth management policy and environmental governance systems. Our results also showed similarities in environmental quality responses to varying governance systems. For example, we found that sales prices responded positively to improved water quality (e.g., increases in DO and reductions in bacteria counts) in both cities. Furthermore, riparian restoration efforts improved over time for both cities, indicating the positive effect of governance on this land-based resource that may result in improved water quality. However, as of yet, there were no substantial differences across study areas in water temperature over time, despite an expansion of these urban areas of more than 20%over 24 years. The mechanisms by which water quality was maintained was similar in the sense that both cities benefited from riparian restoration, but different in the sense that Portland benefited indirectly from land use policy. A combination of long-term legacy effects of land development, and a relatively short history of riparian restoration in both the Portland and Vancouver regions, may have masked any subtle differences between study areas. An alternative explanation is that both cities exhibited combinations of positive indirect and direct water quality governance that resulted in maintenance of water quality in the face of increased urban growth. These findings suggest that a much longer-term water quality monitoring effort is needed to identify the effectiveness of alternative land development and water governance policies Close

• 2. [Article] Household Water Demand and Land Use Context: A Multilevel Approach

  Urban water use arises from a mix of scale-dependent biophysical and socioeconomic factors. In Portland, Oregon, single-family residential water use exhibits a tightly coupled relationship with summertime ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Household Water Demand and Land Use Context: A Multilevel Approach Author: Breyer, Elizabeth Yancey Year: 2014 Urban water use arises from a mix of scale-dependent biophysical and socioeconomic factors. In Portland, Oregon, single-family residential water use exhibits a tightly coupled relationship with summertime weather, although this relationship varies with land use patterns across households and neighborhoods. This thesis developed a multilevel regression model to evaluate the relative importance of weather variability, parcel land use characteristics, and neighborhood geographic context in explaining single-family residential water demand patterns in the Portland metropolitan area. The model drew on a high-resolution panel dataset of weekly mean summer water use over five years (2001-2005) for a sample of 460 single-family households spanning an urban-to-suburban gradient. Water use was found to be most elastic with respect to parcel-scale building size. Building age was negatively related to water use at both the parcel and neighborhood scale. Half the variation in water use can be attributed to between-household factors. Between-neighborhood variation exerted a modest but statistically significant effect. The analysis decomposed household temperature sensitivity into four components: a fixed effect common to all households, a household-specific deviation from the fixed effect, a separate extreme heat effect, and a land use effect, where lot size exaggerated the effect of temperature on water use. Results suggested that land use planning may be an effective non-price mechanism for long-range management of peak demand, as land use decisions have water use implications. The combined effects of population growth, urbanization, and climate change expose water providers to risk of water stress. Modeling fine-grain relationships among heat, land use, and water use across scales plays a role in long-range climate change planning and adaptation. Title: Household Water Demand and Land Use Context: A Multilevel Approach Author: Breyer, Elizabeth Yancey Year: 2014 Urban water use arises from a mix of scale-dependent biophysical and socioeconomic factors. In Portland, Oregon, single-family residential water use exhibits a tightly coupled relationship with summertime weather, although this relationship varies with land use patterns across households and neighborhoods. This thesis developed a multilevel regression model to evaluate the relative importance of weather variability, parcel land use characteristics, and neighborhood geographic context in explaining single-family residential water demand patterns in the Portland metropolitan area. The model drew on a high-resolution panel dataset of weekly mean summer water use over five years (2001-2005) for a sample of 460 single-family households spanning an urban-to-suburban gradient. Water use was found to be most elastic with respect to parcel-scale building size. Building age was negatively related to water use at both the parcel and neighborhood scale. Half the variation in water use can be attributed to between-household factors. Between-neighborhood variation exerted a modest but statistically significant effect. The analysis decomposed household temperature sensitivity into four components: a fixed effect common to all households, a household-specific deviation from the fixed effect, a separate extreme heat effect, and a land use effect, where lot size exaggerated the effect of temperature on water use. Results suggested that land use planning may be an effective non-price mechanism for long-range management of peak demand, as land use decisions have water use implications. The combined effects of population growth, urbanization, and climate change expose water providers to risk of water stress. Modeling fine-grain relationships among heat, land use, and water use across scales plays a role in long-range climate change planning and adaptation. Close

• 3. [Article] Stressors and Strategies for Managing Urban Water Scarcity: Perspectives from the Field

  Largely because water resource planning in the U.S. has been separated from land-use planning, opportunities for explicitly linking planning policies to water availability remain unexamined. The pressing ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Stressors and Strategies for Managing Urban Water Scarcity: Perspectives from the Field Author: Shandas, Vivek, Lehman, Rosa, Larson, Kelli L., Bunn, Jeremy, Chang, Heejun Year: 2015 Largely because water resource planning in the U.S. has been separated from land-use planning, opportunities for explicitly linking planning policies to water availability remain unexamined. The pressing need for better coordination between land-use planning and water management is amplified by changes in the global climate, which will place even greater importance on managing water supplies and demands than in the past. By surveying land and water managers in two urbanizing regions of the western United States—Portland, Oregon and Phoenix Arizona—we assessed the extent to which their perspectives regarding municipal water resource management align or differ. We specifically focus on characterizing how they perceive water scarcity problems (i.e., stressors) and solutions (i.e., strategies). Overall, the results show a general agreement across both regions and professions that long-term drought, population growth, and outdoor water use are the most important stressors to urban water systems. The results of the survey indicated more agreement across cities than across professions with regard to effective strategies, reinforcing the idea that land-use planners and water managers remain divided in their conception of the solutions to urban water management. To conclude, we recommend potential pathways for coordinating the fields of land and water management for urban sustainability. Title: Stressors and Strategies for Managing Urban Water Scarcity: Perspectives from the Field Author: Shandas, Vivek, Lehman, Rosa, Larson, Kelli L., Bunn, Jeremy, Chang, Heejun Year: 2015 Largely because water resource planning in the U.S. has been separated from land-use planning, opportunities for explicitly linking planning policies to water availability remain unexamined. The pressing need for better coordination between land-use planning and water management is amplified by changes in the global climate, which will place even greater importance on managing water supplies and demands than in the past. By surveying land and water managers in two urbanizing regions of the western United States—Portland, Oregon and Phoenix Arizona—we assessed the extent to which their perspectives regarding municipal water resource management align or differ. We specifically focus on characterizing how they perceive water scarcity problems (i.e., stressors) and solutions (i.e., strategies). Overall, the results show a general agreement across both regions and professions that long-term drought, population growth, and outdoor water use are the most important stressors to urban water systems. The results of the survey indicated more agreement across cities than across professions with regard to effective strategies, reinforcing the idea that land-use planners and water managers remain divided in their conception of the solutions to urban water management. To conclude, we recommend potential pathways for coordinating the fields of land and water management for urban sustainability. Close

• 4. [Article] Riparian Vegetation Assemblages and Associated Landscape Factors Across an Urbanizing Metropolitan Area

  While diverse, native riparian vegetation provides important functions, it remains unclear to what extent these assemblages can persist in urban areas, and under what conditions. We characterized forested ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Riparian Vegetation Assemblages and Associated Landscape Factors Across an Urbanizing Metropolitan Area Author: Von Behren, Christa, Dietrich, Andrew Evans, Yeakley, J. Alan Year: 2014 While diverse, native riparian vegetation provides important functions, it remains unclear to what extent these assemblages can persist in urban areas, and under what conditions. We characterized forested riparian vegetation communities across an urbanizing metropolitan area and examined their relationships with surrounding land cover. We hypothesized that native and hydrophilic species assemblages would correlate with forest cover in the landscape. For each of 30 sites in the Portland–Vancouver metro area, we recorded vegetation at 1-cm intervals along 3 transects using the line-intercept method. Land cover was characterized at 2 scales: within 500 m of each site and across the entire watershed. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate relationships between species composition and land cover patterns. A classification tree was created to determine landscape predictors of riparian community type. Results indicated a strong relationship between watershed land cover and vegetation diversity and structural complexity. Our hypothesis of native species association with landscape forest cover in urban riparian areas was supported, but we found no clear relationship between land cover and wetland indicator status. Our results suggest that high watershed forest cover (at least 15%) may enable the persistence of functionally diverse, native riparian vegetation communities in urban landscapes. Keywords: Pacific Northwest, plant diversity, plant ecology, riparian forest, urban ecology, urban watersheds. Title: Riparian Vegetation Assemblages and Associated Landscape Factors Across an Urbanizing Metropolitan Area Author: Von Behren, Christa, Dietrich, Andrew Evans, Yeakley, J. Alan Year: 2014 While diverse, native riparian vegetation provides important functions, it remains unclear to what extent these assemblages can persist in urban areas, and under what conditions. We characterized forested riparian vegetation communities across an urbanizing metropolitan area and examined their relationships with surrounding land cover. We hypothesized that native and hydrophilic species assemblages would correlate with forest cover in the landscape. For each of 30 sites in the Portland–Vancouver metro area, we recorded vegetation at 1-cm intervals along 3 transects using the line-intercept method. Land cover was characterized at 2 scales: within 500 m of each site and across the entire watershed. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate relationships between species composition and land cover patterns. A classification tree was created to determine landscape predictors of riparian community type. Results indicated a strong relationship between watershed land cover and vegetation diversity and structural complexity. Our hypothesis of native species association with landscape forest cover in urban riparian areas was supported, but we found no clear relationship between land cover and wetland indicator status. Our results suggest that high watershed forest cover (at least 15%) may enable the persistence of functionally diverse, native riparian vegetation communities in urban landscapes. Keywords: Pacific Northwest, plant diversity, plant ecology, riparian forest, urban ecology, urban watersheds. Close

• 5. [Article] Assessing Hydrologic and Water Quality Sensitivities to Precipitation Changes, Urban Growth and Land Management Using SWAT

  Precipitation changes and urban growth are two factors altering the state of water quality. Changes in precipitation will alter the amount and timing of flows, and the corresponding sediment and nutrient ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Assessing Hydrologic and Water Quality Sensitivities to Precipitation Changes, Urban Growth and Land Management Using SWAT Author: Psaris, Alexander Michael Year: 2014 Precipitation changes and urban growth are two factors altering the state of water quality. Changes in precipitation will alter the amount and timing of flows, and the corresponding sediment and nutrient dynamics. Meanwhile, densification associated with urban growth will create more impervious surfaces which will alter sediment and nutrient loadings. Land and water managers often rely on models to develop possible future scenarios and devise management responses to these projected changes. We use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to assess the sensitivities of stream flow, sediment, and nutrient loads in two urbanizing watersheds in Northwest Oregon, USA to various climate and urbanization scenarios. We evaluate the spatial patterns climate change and urban growth will have on water, sediment and nutrient yields. We also identify critical source areas (CSAs) and investigate how implementation of vegetative filter strips (VFS) could ameliorate the effects of these changes. Our findings suggest that: 1) Water yield is tightly coupled to precipitation. 2) Large increases in winter and spring precipitation provide enough sub-surface storage to increase summertime water yields despite a moderate decrease in summer precipitation. 3) Expansion of urban areas increases surface runoff and has mixed effects on sediment and nutrients. 4) Implementation of VFS reduces pollutant loads helping overall watershed health. This research demonstrates the usefulness of SWAT in facilitating informed land and water management decisions. Title: Assessing Hydrologic and Water Quality Sensitivities to Precipitation Changes, Urban Growth and Land Management Using SWAT Author: Psaris, Alexander Michael Year: 2014 Precipitation changes and urban growth are two factors altering the state of water quality. Changes in precipitation will alter the amount and timing of flows, and the corresponding sediment and nutrient dynamics. Meanwhile, densification associated with urban growth will create more impervious surfaces which will alter sediment and nutrient loadings. Land and water managers often rely on models to develop possible future scenarios and devise management responses to these projected changes. We use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to assess the sensitivities of stream flow, sediment, and nutrient loads in two urbanizing watersheds in Northwest Oregon, USA to various climate and urbanization scenarios. We evaluate the spatial patterns climate change and urban growth will have on water, sediment and nutrient yields. We also identify critical source areas (CSAs) and investigate how implementation of vegetative filter strips (VFS) could ameliorate the effects of these changes. Our findings suggest that: 1) Water yield is tightly coupled to precipitation. 2) Large increases in winter and spring precipitation provide enough sub-surface storage to increase summertime water yields despite a moderate decrease in summer precipitation. 3) Expansion of urban areas increases surface runoff and has mixed effects on sediment and nutrients. 4) Implementation of VFS reduces pollutant loads helping overall watershed health. This research demonstrates the usefulness of SWAT in facilitating informed land and water management decisions. Close

• 6. [Article] Informing Oregon's Marine Protected Area (MPA) Baseline: Past and Present Tribal Uses of Marine Resources

  Native American tribes with ancestral land adjacent to the coast have gathered, hunted, and fished marine resources for millennia. In 2012, the state of Oregon designated five marine sites as reserves ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Informing Oregon's Marine Protected Area (MPA) Baseline: Past and Present Tribal Uses of Marine Resources Author: Comet, Sabra Marie TallChief Year: 2017 Native American tribes with ancestral land adjacent to the coast have gathered, hunted, and fished marine resources for millennia. In 2012, the state of Oregon designated five marine sites as reserves in which ocean development and harvest were prohibited. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are paired with each of the reserves and have less stringent “take” restrictions. Conflict over tribal use of MPAs have arisen in other states (e.g., California) as designation of MPAs and Reserves can impact subsistence, ceremonial, and traditional uses. My master’s thesis is intended to inform Oregon MPA management by developing a dataset that will describe tribal past (ancestral) and present (recent, within the current generation) uses of marine resources. I have collected interview and survey data to document marine resource use by tribal peoples on the Oregon coast in or near current and planned MPA’s. The interview protocols I used were developed for northern California’s MPA Baseline project and use a mixture of long and short questions, as well as an interactive mapping exercise. Interviews will target current fishermen/gatherers and tribal elders. Outcomes from the project will help Oregon coastal managers incorporate tribal uses into MPA management. Title: Informing Oregon's Marine Protected Area (MPA) Baseline: Past and Present Tribal Uses of Marine Resources Author: Comet, Sabra Marie TallChief Year: 2017 Native American tribes with ancestral land adjacent to the coast have gathered, hunted, and fished marine resources for millennia. In 2012, the state of Oregon designated five marine sites as reserves in which ocean development and harvest were prohibited. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are paired with each of the reserves and have less stringent “take” restrictions. Conflict over tribal use of MPAs have arisen in other states (e.g., California) as designation of MPAs and Reserves can impact subsistence, ceremonial, and traditional uses. My master’s thesis is intended to inform Oregon MPA management by developing a dataset that will describe tribal past (ancestral) and present (recent, within the current generation) uses of marine resources. I have collected interview and survey data to document marine resource use by tribal peoples on the Oregon coast in or near current and planned MPA’s. The interview protocols I used were developed for northern California’s MPA Baseline project and use a mixture of long and short questions, as well as an interactive mapping exercise. Interviews will target current fishermen/gatherers and tribal elders. Outcomes from the project will help Oregon coastal managers incorporate tribal uses into MPA management. Close

• 7. [Article] Effects of Beaver Dams on Surface Water Flow During Storm Events in an Urban Landscape

  Urban land-use generally alters the hydrologic cycle, leading to changes in the natural flow regime of local streams. Runoff from impervious surfaces and routing of stormwater to streams causes urban streams ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Effects of Beaver Dams on Surface Water Flow During Storm Events in an Urban Landscape Author: Poor, Erin Year: 2017 Urban land-use generally alters the hydrologic cycle, leading to changes in the natural flow regime of local streams. Runoff from impervious surfaces and routing of stormwater to streams causes urban streams to respond quickly and more intensely to storm events-more so than then would be observed in a less urbanized landscape. The rapid pulse of water that is routed to streams during precipitation events can degrade the physical structure of the channel and alter water quality and habitat availability. To manage these common urban stream issues, agencies have been seeking alternative ways of restoring and enhancing resilience in urban stream networks within the constraints of existing infrastructure. One potential strategy may be to support beaver recolonization of urban streams. This is because beaver dam building activity has been found to attenuate streamflow in areas that have experienced minimal human impact. Currently, however, no studies have been published that examine how beaver dams affect stream flow in altered urban systems. This study seeks to determine if the presence of beaver dams and ponds in urban stream reaches in the Tualatin River basin, Oregon, modifies the stream’s response to storm events. Continuous surface water levels are being collected upstream and downstream of two beaver affected reaches in order to determine how the presence of dams and ponds affect the flow regime, and whether this more closely resembles a less degraded state. Title: Effects of Beaver Dams on Surface Water Flow During Storm Events in an Urban Landscape Author: Poor, Erin Year: 2017 Urban land-use generally alters the hydrologic cycle, leading to changes in the natural flow regime of local streams. Runoff from impervious surfaces and routing of stormwater to streams causes urban streams to respond quickly and more intensely to storm events-more so than then would be observed in a less urbanized landscape. The rapid pulse of water that is routed to streams during precipitation events can degrade the physical structure of the channel and alter water quality and habitat availability. To manage these common urban stream issues, agencies have been seeking alternative ways of restoring and enhancing resilience in urban stream networks within the constraints of existing infrastructure. One potential strategy may be to support beaver recolonization of urban streams. This is because beaver dam building activity has been found to attenuate streamflow in areas that have experienced minimal human impact. Currently, however, no studies have been published that examine how beaver dams affect stream flow in altered urban systems. This study seeks to determine if the presence of beaver dams and ponds in urban stream reaches in the Tualatin River basin, Oregon, modifies the stream’s response to storm events. Continuous surface water levels are being collected upstream and downstream of two beaver affected reaches in order to determine how the presence of dams and ponds affect the flow regime, and whether this more closely resembles a less degraded state. Close

• 8. [Article] Use of Distance Weighted Metrics to Investigate Landscape-Stream Temperature Relationships Across Different Temporal Scales

  Stream ecosystems have experienced significant negative impacts from land use, resource exploitation, and urban development. Statistical models allow researchers to explore the relationships between these ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Use of Distance Weighted Metrics to Investigate Landscape-Stream Temperature Relationships Across Different Temporal Scales Author: Watson, Eric Craig Year: 2016 Stream ecosystems have experienced significant negative impacts from land use, resource exploitation, and urban development. Statistical models allow researchers to explore the relationships between these landscape variables and stream conditions. Weighting the relevant landscape variables based on hydrologically defined distances offers a potential method of increasing the predictive capacity of statistical models. Using observations from three grouped watersheds in the Portland Metro Area (n=66), I have explored the use of three different weighting schemes against the standard method of taking an areal average. These four different model groups were applied to four stream temperature metrics: mean seven-day moving average maximum daily temperature (Mean7dTmax), number of days exceeding 17.8 °C (Tmax7d>17.8), mean daily range in stream temperature (Range_DTR), and the coefficient of variation in maximum daily temperature (CV_Tmax). These metrics were quantified for the 2011 dry season. The strength of these model groups were also examined at a monthly basis for each of the four months within the dry season. The results demonstrate mixed effectiveness of the weighting schemes, dependent on both the stream temperature metric being predicted as well as the time scale under investigation. Models for Mean7dTmax showed no benefit from the inclusion of distance weighted metrics, while models for Range_DTR consistently improved using distance weighted explanatory variables. Trends in the models for 7dTmax>17.8 and CV_Tmax varied based on temporal scale. Additionally, all model groups demonstrated greater explanatory power in early summer months than in late summer months. Title: Use of Distance Weighted Metrics to Investigate Landscape-Stream Temperature Relationships Across Different Temporal Scales Author: Watson, Eric Craig Year: 2016 Stream ecosystems have experienced significant negative impacts from land use, resource exploitation, and urban development. Statistical models allow researchers to explore the relationships between these landscape variables and stream conditions. Weighting the relevant landscape variables based on hydrologically defined distances offers a potential method of increasing the predictive capacity of statistical models. Using observations from three grouped watersheds in the Portland Metro Area (n=66), I have explored the use of three different weighting schemes against the standard method of taking an areal average. These four different model groups were applied to four stream temperature metrics: mean seven-day moving average maximum daily temperature (Mean7dTmax), number of days exceeding 17.8 °C (Tmax7d>17.8), mean daily range in stream temperature (Range_DTR), and the coefficient of variation in maximum daily temperature (CV_Tmax). These metrics were quantified for the 2011 dry season. The strength of these model groups were also examined at a monthly basis for each of the four months within the dry season. The results demonstrate mixed effectiveness of the weighting schemes, dependent on both the stream temperature metric being predicted as well as the time scale under investigation. Models for Mean7dTmax showed no benefit from the inclusion of distance weighted metrics, while models for Range_DTR consistently improved using distance weighted explanatory variables. Trends in the models for 7dTmax>17.8 and CV_Tmax varied based on temporal scale. Additionally, all model groups demonstrated greater explanatory power in early summer months than in late summer months. Close

• 9. [Article] A Geospatial Tool for Wetland Prioritization at the Watershed Scale

  There is an increasing demand for assessing ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands, especially when comparing or prioritizing among wetlands at the watershed scale. We estimated the relative potential ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A Geospatial Tool for Wetland Prioritization at the Watershed Scale Author: Blackmore, Debra Sue, Chang, Heejun Year: 2015 There is an increasing demand for assessing ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands, especially when comparing or prioritizing among wetlands at the watershed scale. We estimated the relative potential of selected ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands within a watershed using widely available geospatial data. We developed four functions to estimate 1) flood storage, 2) late season flow, 3) sediment retention and 4) temperature control in four pilot watersheds in Oregon (Tualatin, Coquille, Upper Grande Ronde and Sprague). These watersheds are geographically separated from each other representing diverse ecoregion environments. Spatial analysis and geographic information system (GIS) were designed for maximum re-use, based on publicly-available data, commonly-used software, semi-automated techniques and wetland characterizations that attempt to capture fundamental wetland processes. Our data sources include 30-meter digital elevation models, NRCS soil survey extracts, USGS National Land Cover Data, USGS HUC8 boundaries (polygons) and statewide wetland delineations (polygons) processed within ArcGIS 10.2 and Python 2.7.5 software. Model parameters were compiled using multiple proxy values for size, slope, aspect, proximity, flow path distance, hydrologic gradient, shade, and soil characteristics. WPT characterizations emphasize the multi-faceted value of freshwater wetlands, relating potential within a watershed as well as providing model-based characterizations between watersheds. Our wetland prioritization tool (WPT) provides useful information to estimate and compare the relative potential for selected wetland functions, thereby improving success in wetland conservation, restoration, and mitigation efforts. Title: A Geospatial Tool for Wetland Prioritization at the Watershed Scale Author: Blackmore, Debra Sue, Chang, Heejun Year: 2015 There is an increasing demand for assessing ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands, especially when comparing or prioritizing among wetlands at the watershed scale. We estimated the relative potential of selected ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands within a watershed using widely available geospatial data. We developed four functions to estimate 1) flood storage, 2) late season flow, 3) sediment retention and 4) temperature control in four pilot watersheds in Oregon (Tualatin, Coquille, Upper Grande Ronde and Sprague). These watersheds are geographically separated from each other representing diverse ecoregion environments. Spatial analysis and geographic information system (GIS) were designed for maximum re-use, based on publicly-available data, commonly-used software, semi-automated techniques and wetland characterizations that attempt to capture fundamental wetland processes. Our data sources include 30-meter digital elevation models, NRCS soil survey extracts, USGS National Land Cover Data, USGS HUC8 boundaries (polygons) and statewide wetland delineations (polygons) processed within ArcGIS 10.2 and Python 2.7.5 software. Model parameters were compiled using multiple proxy values for size, slope, aspect, proximity, flow path distance, hydrologic gradient, shade, and soil characteristics. WPT characterizations emphasize the multi-faceted value of freshwater wetlands, relating potential within a watershed as well as providing model-based characterizations between watersheds. Our wetland prioritization tool (WPT) provides useful information to estimate and compare the relative potential for selected wetland functions, thereby improving success in wetland conservation, restoration, and mitigation efforts. Close

• 10. [Article] Physical, Chemical and Biological Assessment of Yoncalla Log Ponds

  The Yoncalla Log Ponds are a series of four ponds located in within the city limits of the town in Yoncalla in northern Douglas County, Oregon. The ponds were created in stages between the late 1930s and ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Physical, Chemical and Biological Assessment of Yoncalla Log Ponds Author: Miller, Rich, Sytsma, Mark D., Strecker, Angela L. Year: 2014 The Yoncalla Log Ponds are a series of four ponds located in within the city limits of the town in Yoncalla in northern Douglas County, Oregon. The ponds were created in stages between the late 1930s and the 1950s and used for log storage through the 1970s (North Douglas Betterment 2014). North Douglas Betterment purchased the land surrounding the ponds and contracted with the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University to assess the current morphometry, vegetation and water quality status of the ponds and provide recommendations for management of the aquatic vegetation. The scope of this document covers the current status assessment of the ponds using data collected from June 2013 through May 2014. Title: Physical, Chemical and Biological Assessment of Yoncalla Log Ponds Author: Miller, Rich, Sytsma, Mark D., Strecker, Angela L. Year: 2014 The Yoncalla Log Ponds are a series of four ponds located in within the city limits of the town in Yoncalla in northern Douglas County, Oregon. The ponds were created in stages between the late 1930s and the 1950s and used for log storage through the 1970s (North Douglas Betterment 2014). North Douglas Betterment purchased the land surrounding the ponds and contracted with the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University to assess the current morphometry, vegetation and water quality status of the ponds and provide recommendations for management of the aquatic vegetation. The scope of this document covers the current status assessment of the ponds using data collected from June 2013 through May 2014. Close