Overview and Resources for LTPBR Design Phase
Overview
Welcome to the resource page for the Low-tech Process-based Restoration (LTPBR) Design Class. We will post information and resources here to help you develop a LTPBR design. Below are descriptions and links to:
- Schedule & Logistics
- Report Content & Style
- Examples of Planning and Design Reports
- Analysis tools
- GIS Resources
- QGIS video tutorials
- Example Monitoring Protocols and Apps
- Examples of Permit Applications
- Examples of Adaptive Management Plans
Schedule & Logistics
- Refer to this schedule for class, assignment, and field trip dates.
Report Content and Style
For the final report, we expect:
- Update Phase 1 of your Planning Report if you took the Planning Class (5622). Note the report outline has been revised.
- Clear writing, a clear thought process, and proper use of citations (i.e. use Zotero, Mendeley, etc.)
- Clear figures with full captions (if reusing or adapting figures, cite properly)
- Consistent and effective maps (whether done in ArcGIS, QGIS, by hand, Google Earth, etc.).
- Submit as a word document.
Use this revised Report Outline Download Report Outline to develop your report
**Provide any additional analyses you deem necessary
Examples of Low-tech Process-based Restoration Planning and Design Documents
- Asotin Creek (large and expensive report example)Download Asotin Creek (large and expensive report example)
- Mountain Island Assessment ReportDownload Mountain Island Assessment Report
- Dugout Ranch Field AssessmentDownload Dugout Ranch Field Assessment
- Diamond Fork 80 Percent Design ReportDownload Diamond Fork 80 Percent Design Report
- Willow Springs Design Report
Analysis Tools
- Stream Stats Links to an external site.
- USDA Web Soil Survey Links to an external site.
- USGS GIS web application (like QGIS, but online) Links to an external site.
- USGS topoBuilder Links to an external site. (create custom topographic maps on demand)
Video refresher on identifying geomorphic units (Module 3E. Risk Assessment, Condition Assessment, & Recovery Potential Links to an external site.)
GIS Resources
Descriptions and Links to Mapping and Geoanalysis Resources
** The riverscape resources can be viewed in Arc GIS 10.x or QGIS. Here are descriptions of the resources and instructions on how to load them into Arc or QGIS.
- Riverscape Context Tool Links to an external site. - a tool that aggregates contextual layers for consumption in other Riverscapes projects. Many Riverscapes tools use nationally available datasets that have to be retrieved from various sources and prepared for an area of interest. This process can be time-consuming, and often the data have to be further processed after retrieving them (for example, a mosaic of DEM tiles, clipping to watershed boundaries, etc.), and these processes can introduce problems to the datasets.
- Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool Links to an external site.(BRAT) - a planning tool intended to help researchers, restoration practitioners, and resource managers assess the potential for beaver as a stream conservation and restoration agent over large regions and watersheds.
- for advanced users, the python script and documentation are available on github.
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The Riparian Condition Assessment Toolbox Links to an external site. (RCAT) - a suite of stream network assessment tools. These tools are designed to delineate valley bottoms, assess riparian vegetation, evaluate floodplain conditions, and estimate the recovery potential of riparian areas. These tools are intended to help researchers and managers assess the riparian condition and recovery potential over large regions and watersheds. These network models were first developed and implemented across the Colorado Plateau Ecoregion and the state of Utah (see Utah Implementation Links to an external site. page). The models are now being run for the Interior Columbia River Basin (see Columbia River Basin Implementation Links to an external site. page). The R-CAT Links to an external site. models can be run with nationally available existing GIS datasets or high-resolution landcover and DEM datasets. The stream network models consist of the following:
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Riparian Vegetation Departure (RVD Links to an external site.) tool
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Riparian Condition Assessment (RCA Links to an external site.) tool
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Riparian Recovery Potential (RRP) tool
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Valley Bottom Extraction Tool (VBET Links to an external site.) - a tool used to identify the valley bottom of a riverscape, and roughly separate it into geomorphic units (channel, active floodplain, and inactive floodplain). Outputs are available through the Riverscapes Warehouse Links to an external site. for certain HUC-8 watersheds. For advanced users, the python script and documentation are available on github.
- Terrain Analysis Using Digital Elevation Models (TauDEM)
Links to an external site. - a suite of tools developed by David Tarboton at Utah State University’s Hydrology Research Group. The Riverscapes compliant
Links to an external site., Production Grade TauDEM, utilizes some of the useful TauDEM algorithms, packaging inputs and outputs into a Riverscapes project that can be accessed as a product of its own, or used as inputs to other Riverscapes tools. Riverscapes TauDEM projects take an input DEM and a channel and produce the following outputs using TauDEM algorithms:
- Pit-filled DEM
- D-infinity flow direction raster
- D-infinity contributing area raster
- Topographic Wetness Index (TWI Links to an external site.)
- Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) raster
- D-infinity slope raster (percent)
- Additionally, produces a D-8 slope raster (degrees) using GDAL Links to an external site..
- The Channel Area Tool
Links to an external site. - a simple tool for generating polygons representing the spatial extent of the drainage network within a watershed. The primary purpose of the tool is that the outputs it produces are used as inputs in other Riverscapes tools. Geospatial tools often use a simple line network to represent streams. Depending on the functions a tool is performing, this can be problematic as a line can represent both a narrow, first-order stream as well as large, wide rivers. Many Riverscapes tools analyze areas outside of the channel (for example, to look at streamside vegetation), therefore an accurate representation of the actual channel, not simply a line, is necessary.
- The tool is comprised of a simple algorithm for combining polygons representing channels with polygons derived from attributes on a drainage network (line). As long as a drainage network has an attribute recording the upstream contributing drainage area for each segment, regional relationships relating channel width to drainage area can be used to buffer the channel segments, and the resulting polygons can be merged with any other available polygons.
- This gives a first-order approximation of the active channel area. As channels are active and constantly moving through time, greater accuracy can be achieved with more recent, high-resolution datasets, or with user input (e.g., editing channel positions or channel polygons).
- Riverscapes Analysis Visualization Explorer Links to an external site.(RAVE) - helps you make maps of rivers. RAVE speeds up the process of adding data related to rivers into your preferred GIS with meaningful layer order and symbology.
- Can be downloaded for QGIS, ArcGIS (10.6.1 or higher), or online for HUCs in the Riverscapes Data Warehouse
QGIS Help
- Downloading Historic Imagers Links to an external site.
- Extract Longitudinal Profile in QGIS Links to an external site.
- Processing Drone Deploy orthos in QGIS Links to an external site.
- Georeferencing Rasters in QGIS Links to an external site.
PLANNING, DESIGNING, AND MONITORING TOOLS
- LTPBR Implementation and Monitoring Protocol Download LTPBR Implementation and Monitoring Protocol
- LTPBR Implementation and Monitoring App Download LTPBR Implementation and Monitoring App
- LTPBR Assessment and Monitoring Form Download LTPBR Assessment and Monitoring Form
EXAMPLES OF PERMITTING APPLICATIONS and STATE MEMOs
- UT Joint Application Slough Creek Download UT Joint Application Slough Creek
- UT LTPBR Memo Download UT LTPBR Memo
- ID Application Station Creek Download ID Application Station Creek
- ID Application Response to Memo Birch Creek Download ID Application Response to Memo Birch Creek
- ID LTPBR Memo Download ID LTPBR Memo
- WA Joint Application Asotin Creek Download WA Joint Application Asotin Creek
EXAMPLES OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLANS
- Asotin Restoration and Adaptive Management Plan Download Asotin Restoration and Adaptive Management Plan
- Asotin Adaptive Management Plan Publication Download Asotin Adaptive Management Plan Publication
- Example of Adaptive Management Plan Suggested by Bonneville Power Administration Download Example of Adaptive Management Plan Suggested by Bonneville Power Administration
- Example of large-scale adaptive management planning Download Example of large-scale adaptive management planning
LTPBR LITERATURE
- Inundation mapping - K. Bartelt 2021 Download Inundation mapping - K. Bartelt 2021
- Great Expectations - Nash et al. 2021 Download Great Expectations - Nash et al. 2021
- American Rivers LTPBR Review 2022 Download American Rivers LTPBR Review 2022