OOS 44
Riparian Ecology, Management, and Restoration in California’s Great Central Valley

Thursday, August 14, 2014: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
306, Sacramento Convention Center
Organizer:
Andrew P. Rayburn, River Partners
Co-organizers:
Hillary M. White, H. T. Harvey & Associates Ecological Consultants; and Virginia Matzek, Santa Clara University
Moderator:
Jaymee Marty, Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting
This session will focus on multi-benefit research, management, and restoration of riparian habitat along the major rivers flowing through California’s Great Central Valley. Once composed of broad swaths of dense streamside forests, sprawling oak woodlands, and a network of ox-bow lakes, sloughs, and wetlands, riparian communities were formerly maintained by active river processes linked to the timing of snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Approximately 95% of historical riparian habitat has been lost or altered in the Central Valley, replaced in large part by arguably the most intensive agricultural production system on the planet. Active river processes have been critically altered by a sophisticated network of dams for water storage and delivery, levees for flood protection, and diversions for irrigation. The few remaining riparian corridors are mostly restricted to narrow bands of degraded vegetation, disconnected from river floodplains and choked with invasive species. Consequently, the provision of critical ecosystem services (e.g., flood protection and attenuation, habitat for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, biodiversity support, water filtration, pollinator resources, and carbon storage) by riparian communities has been dramatically reduced, resulting in many negative impacts on both people and the land. Utilizing novel methods and perspectives, numerous local, regional, and national stakeholders are working in collaboration to reverse this wide-spread trend of habitat degradation and conversion in the Central Valley. Central to these efforts is a focus on projects that provide multiple, often simultaneous benefits in order to address diverse objectives and to maximize return on investment of limited conservation funding. This session will highlight efforts by academic researchers, agency and non-profit scientists, private-sector consultants, and various stakeholder groups to understand, enhance, and restore critical riparian communities along major rivers in the Central Valley. Such efforts include targeted ecological research, state-of-the-art restoration projects at local- and landscape-scales, novel strategies to protect and conserve threatened and endangered species, and state-wide efforts to formulate coherent water policy. Reflecting the general theme of multi-benefit projects, presentations will also address ecosystem service provision, agricultural production, floodplain dynamics, invasive species, and the role of riparian communities in buffering effects of climate change.
1:30 PM
 Riparian forest dynamics along the Sacramento River, CA: Pre- versus post-dam patterns in tree species succession
Andrea M. Irons, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; John C. Stella, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Jess Riddle, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry
1:50 PM
 The conservation strategy of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan: Increasing ecosystem benefits through integration of ecological restoration and flood management
John C. Hunter, H. T. Harvey & Associates; Debra Bishop, H. T. Harvey & Associates; Stacy Cepello, FloodSAFE Environmental Stewardship and Statewide Resources Office
2:10 PM
 Thinking outside the Endangered Species Act: Minimizing the reliance on compensatory mitigation through effective conservation planning
Hillary M. White, H. T. Harvey & Associates Ecological Consultants; Ron E. Melcer Jr., California Department of Water Resources
2:50 PM
 Riparian vegetation structure and flood management
Stefan Lorenzato, California Department of Water Resources; Thomas Griggs, River Partners; Kevin Coulton, cbec Eco Engineering
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
 Dos Rios Ranch: Large-scale, multi-benefit riparian restoration in the San Joaquin Valley
Andrew P. Rayburn, River Partners; Julie Rentner, River Partners; Jeff Holt, River Partners; Stephen Sheppard, River Partners; Trevor Meadows, River Partners
3:40 PM
 Large-scale, long-term bird response to river restoration in California's Great Central Valley
Thomas Gardali, PRBO Conservation Science; Michelle M. Gilbert, Point Blue Conservation Science; Nathaniel E. Seavy, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Science
4:00 PM
 Can carbon credits fund riparian restoration?
Virginia Matzek, Santa Clara University
4:20 PM
 We are not there yet: What is missing from restoration efforts targeting rare species on the Sacramento River
Colleen A. Hatfield, California State University; Joseph G. Silveira, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4:40 PM
 Successes, failures, and suggested future directions for ecosystem restoration of the middle Sacramento River, California
Gregory H. Golet, The Nature Conservancy; David L. Brown, California State University Chico; Melinda Carlson, California State University Chico; Thomas Gardali, PRBO Conservation Science; Adam Henderson, California Department of Water Resources; Karen D. Holl, University of California, Santa Cruz; Christine A., Howell, USDA Forest Service; Marcel Holyoak, University of California, Davis; John Hunt, Northern California Regional Land Trust; G. Mathias Kondolf, University of California, Berkeley; Eric W. Larsen, University of California, Davis; Ryan A. Luster, The Nature Conservancy; Charles D. McClain, California State University Chico; Charles Nelson, California State University Chico; Seth Paine, The Nature Conservancy; William Rainey, University of California Berkeley; Zan Rubin, University of California Berkeley; Fraser Shilling, University of California, Davis; Joseph G. Silveira, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Helen Swagerty, River Partners; Neal M. Williams, University of California; Dave M. Wood, California State University Chico