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Anticipatory Management for Instream Habitat: Application to Carneros Creek, California
Author(s) -
Beagle J. R.,
Kondolf G. M.,
Adams R. M.,
Marcus L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.2863
Subject(s) - riparian zone , riprap , bank erosion , habitat , streams , environmental science , erosion , channel (broadcasting) , floodplain , hydrology (agriculture) , river ecosystem , benthic zone , tributary , ecosystem , stream restoration , biodiversity , environmental resource management , ecology , geography , geology , computer science , paleontology , computer network , cartography , geotechnical engineering , biology
Ecological research increasingly demonstrates that the best fish habitat is associated with complex, dynamically migrating channels. Active erosion and deposition create pools, side channels, and surfaces for recruitment of riparian vegetation, resulting in hydraulic complexity. As such, the most effective and sustainable restoration strategies restore natural processes, and in turn, create biological habitat. Nevertheless, there exists a social–cultural preference for stable channels. Landowners are often unhappy with eroding banks and, more broadly, are uncomfortable with ‘messy’ ecosystems and the erosion, deposition, and channel migration that are essential components of the dynamic channels that provide the greatest floodplain biodiversity. Episodic bank erosion and failure are often treated with emergency response measures, such as riprap and bank hardening. This often results in simplified channels with minimized instream habitat. Here, we propose an alternative management approach for streams with cohesive banks, and where active erosion is concentrated in ‘hot spots’ that are roughly predictable based on geomorphic analysis. We term the approach anticipatory management and present an application of the approach to Carneros Creek, an incised tributary to the Napa River. We contrast the likely habitat values and agricultural land loss of the anticipatory management approach to: (i) a conventional bank stabilization project proposed for the creek, and (ii) a series of uniform setbacks. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.