Building a Blueprint for Tidal Wetland and Salmon Habitat Restoration in Oregon in Collaboration with NGS and CO-OPS Investigators: Laura Brophy, Estuary Technical Group, Institute for Applied Ecology, Corvallis, OR Craig Cornu, South Slough NERR, Charleston, OR Paul Adamus, Adamus Resource Consulting, Corvallis, OR John Christy, OR Natural Heritage Info. Center, Portland, OR Rebecca Tully, Watershed Sciences, Corvallis, OR Julie Doumbia, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR Craig Young, South Slough NERR, Charleston, OR Photo ©2002 David Pitkin

CICEET: The Cooperative Institute For Coastal & Estuarine Environmental Technology  A partnership of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the University of New Hampshire  CICEET develops tools to detect, prevent and reverse the impacts of coastal pollution and habitat degradation.  Learn more: Tools for Clean Water & Healthy Coasts

Highly collaborative effort …in addition to P.I. institutions: NOAA / NGS NOAA / CO-OPS Private landowners, The Nature Conservancy, USFWS SSNERR Coastal Training Program University of Oregon Geological Sciences OR Dept. of Geology & Mineral Industries Conf. Tribes of Siletz Indians Coos Watershed Association Cramer Fish Sciences and others…

Project Goals Develop new methods for measuring “ecosystem drivers” in tidal wetlands and Analyze and distribute the resulting reference site data to Help improve restoration results

Why are the data needed? High losses of tidal wetlands in OR (60% to >90%) Urgent need for restoration, and strong interest Lack of basic reference conditions data Lack of inexpensive, user-friendly technologies to collect reference conditions data

Tidal marsh Low marsh High marsh

Shrub Forested “Tidal swamp” (woody species predominate)

Objectives 1: Choose reference sites 2: Test new technologies for measuring controlling factors 3: Model inundation regimes 4: Compile & disseminate pilot reference conditions database

Least-disturbed Representative of all major habitat classes Protected Accessible Study sites Yaquina swamp (forested tidal), Yaquina R. estuary

3 ecosystem "drivers" or "controlling factors" critical to restoration success: 1.Tidal inundation regime Determined by elevation survey and tide gauging Highly seasonal in Oregon 2.Salinity regime Highly seasonal in Oregon Channel vs. soil porewater salinity 3.Groundwater regime Important in upper portion of tidal range Objective 2: Test new technologies

Objective 2: Test new technologies for determining site elevations Objective 3: Model tidal inundation regime Current methods are expensive and/or lack adequate spatial or temporal resolution. Examples: Tide charts/online data: Low spatial resolution (not site-specific) Fluvial effects may be missing Level loggers: Expensive (~$ for a single installation) Relatively low spatial resolution (one gauge usually serves a large area) Require elevation survey

RTK-GPS elevation survey High resolution elevation data Step 1. Established geodetic benchmarks Technologies we tested in collaboration with NOAA/NGS:

 Customized high precision RTK GPS equipment  Measure wetland surface elevations  Tie to geodetic reference frame  Challenging environments Step 2. Conducted RTK survey (NOAA / NGS)

Objective 3: Determine tidal datums and inundation regimes Stream Flow Pattern in Oregon NOAA/COOPS collaboration Control station method Highly seasonal fluvial component Integrated inundation model mMean Higher High Water mMean High Water N/AMean Sea Level 0NAVD88 N/AMean Lower Low Water N/AMean Low Water Tidal Datum Elevations (m NAVD88), Coal Creek Swamp

Objective 4: Reference conditions database Compiled and correlated data on: Controlling factors Structural characteristics (soils) Biology (vegetation, benthic invertebrates)

Results: Reference conditions database

Data now in active use: Broad field application in Develop restoration designs Evaluate restoration trajectories Track long-term change Inform collaborative partnerships Data available online (Oregon Explorer)

Examples of collaborative partnerships using NOAA-generated data from this project: Oregon’s largest tidal wetland restoration (418A) Bandon Marsh NWR, Ni-les’tun Unit Major funding from OR Watershed Enhancement Board Partnership of USFWS, DU, EPA, ETG/IAE, OSU, USGS… Estuary Technical Group, Siletz Tribes lead monitoring Removing 15mi ditches, 1.5mi dike, 3 tide gates Constructed 5mi interior channels in 2010

Examples of collaborative partnerships using NOAA-generated data from this project: Necanicum estuary-wide prioritization (NCLC) Salmon River tidal wetland restoration projects (USFS) Lint Slough, Alsea (ODFW) Little Nestucca tidal wetland restoration (USFWS) 17 other projects coastwide in Oregon

Examples of potential new collaborative partnerships to apply NOAA data: Sample grants in review: NOAA CSI-Coasts with ORBIC/INR: Resilience of coastal wetlands in OR and FL (Christy, Knight, Brophy) NOAA Open Rivers, Siuslaw River Estuary Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative, Siuslaw R. E. USFWS Coastal Program, Tillamook whole-estuary prioritization

Reports are posted at: Thank you! Tools for Clean Water & Healthy Coasts Laura Brophy, Director Estuary Technical Group, Institute for Applied Ecology Oregon State University / College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences