changing focus on watershed issues < 1960’s: water supply and flooding > 1960’s: land use...
TRANSCRIPT
Changing Focus on Watershed Issues
< 1960’s: Water supply and flooding
> 1960’s: Land use effects on water quality
> 1980’s: Riparian and aquatic ecology
EVALUATING WATERSHED PROCESSES
STRUGGLES
Issue identification and integration of information across disciplines
Agency, ownership, and political turfs
Appropriate spatial scales
Appropriate temporal scales
An approximate answer to the
right problem is worth a good deal
more than an exact answer to an
approximate problem.
--John Tukey
RIGHT
QUESTION WRONG
QUESTION
GREAT ANALYSIS
POOR ANALYSIS
Municipal and domestic supplyAgricultural supplyIndustrial service supplyIndustrial process supplyGroundwater rechargeFreshwater replenishmentNavigationHydropower generationWater contact recreationNon-contact water recreationCommercial and sport fishingAquacultureWarm freshwater habitatCold freshwater habitatInland saline water habitatEstuarine habitatMarine habitatWildlife habitatPreservation of areas of special biological significanceRare, threatened, endangered speciesMigration of aquatic organismsSpawning, reproduction, and/or early developmentShellfish harvesting
Beneficial Uses of Waterdefined by Water Quality Control Plans
(North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board 1994)
AQUATIC CONSERVATION STRATEGY
• Riparian Reserves – lands linked to aquatic systems where special management guidelines apply
• Key Watersheds – system of large watershed-scale refugia
• Watershed Analysis – multi-scale integrated ecological, social, and economic science-based approach to implementing the Strategy
• Watershed Restoration – recovery of fish habitat, riparian habitat, and water quality
DISAPPEARING SALMON
fishing
HABITAT CHANGE
more predation
altered riparian vegetation
less woody debris
shallow water
altered circulation & temperature
industrialization
subsistence
sport
commercial
ocean freshwater and estuary
migration blockage
high water temperature
altered spawning gravels
dams
logging, grazing, urbanization, etc.
vegetation change
aggradation
high water velocities
more erosion
higher peak flows
THE SHAPE OF THE PROBLEM
vegetation change
high water
velocities
fishing
HABITAT CHANGE
more predation
altered riparian vegetation
less woody debris
shallow water
altered circulation & temperature
industrialization
subsistence
sport
commercial
oceanfreshwater & estuary
migration blockage
high water temperature
altered spawning gravels
dams
aggradation
more erosion
higher peak flows
logging, grazing, urbanization, etc.
THE TRADITIONAL SHAPE OF THE PROBLEM
DISAPPEARINGSALMON
vegetation change
ECATMDL
etc
fishing
HABITAT CHANGE
more predation
altered riparian vegetation
less woody debris
shallow water
altered circulation & temperature
industrialization
subsistence
sport
commercial
oceanfreshwater &
estuary
migration blockage
high water temperature
altered spawning gravels
dams
aggradation
more erosion
higher peak flows
logging, grazing, urbanization, etc.
THE INDEX SHAPE OF THE PROBLEM
DISAPPEARING SALMON
DISAPPEARING SALMON
STRUGGLES
Issue identification and integration of information across disciplines
Agency, ownership, and political turfs
Appropriate spatial scales
Appropriate temporal scales
STRUGGLES
Issue identification and integration of information across disciplines
Agency, ownership, and political turfs
Appropriate spatial scales
Appropriate temporal scales
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YEAR
PR
EC
IPIT
AT
ION
SE
VE
RIT
Y
APPROPRIATE TIME SCALES Corporations Quarterly profits and losses 0.25 years Domestic water user Individual storm 0.1 to 5 years Politicians Election cycles 2, 4, or 6 years Humans Memory of significant events 1 to 20 years Humans Life span 50 to 100 years Channel adjustments Large storm or geologic event 1 to 1000 + years ______________________________________________________________________ Insects Life cycle 0.2 to 1 year Anadromous fish Life cycle 2 to 4 years Humans Life cycle 50 to 100 years Trees Life cycle 100 to 1500 years Channel adjustments Large storm or geologic event 1 to 1000 + years ______________________________________________________________________
EVALUATING WATERSHED PROCESSES
STRUGGLES
Issue identification and integration of information across disciplines
Agency, ownership, and political turfs
Appropriate spatial scales
Appropriate temporal scales