Missouri Flat Creek Restoration Plan

Restoration Issue

Streams are a very important feature of our local ecosystems. They are home to a diverse group of aquatic species, and play a key role in the quality of local groundwater. Many important factors go into a functioning stream ecosystem. The build of the stream area itself, the size and lushness of the riparian area, how straight the channel is, the floodplain, and the landscape/elevation of the area, a few of the many features that impact a streams functionality (Strickler). The area around the stream, the riparian zone, can impact how well the stream functions ecologically, and supports its structure. Proper vegetation in the riparian zone can help prevent erosion form happening to the stream, help buffer runoff, and provide habitat for organisms supporting biodiversity in the system (USDA, 1996).

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Site Description

The selected site is called Missouri Flat creek, located in Pullman, WA. This site was reconstructed after major flooding that happened in Pullman in the 90s (Washington State University Org Sync, 2017). In recent years, there have been actions taken towards restoring the site, and cleaning up litter at the site. There has been numerous native trees and shrubs that have been planted at the site with compost and fencing to support the young plants, and have continued to be cared for since then. Since this site is settled right in the town of Pullman, it is near a lot of buildings and businesses, such as a gas station and drive-thru restaurant. These businesses bring in a lot of costumers, and with a lot of people, comes a lot of litter and waste, that could potentially runoff into the stream. There is also a walking path along the creek that could bring the same consequences.

Restoration goals

For this site, one of the biggest goals would be to build the abundance of native vegetation in the riparian zone. With more vegetation, the goal is to create somewhat of a buffer in the riparian zone. This could help with erosion, and keeping larger pieces of debris and litter from running off into the stream. Another goal is to decrease the amount of non-native plants in the riparian area, especially the Reed Canary grass that grows abundantly at this site. Based on the first two goals, with more native vegetation hopefully that will bring in more native species of organisms, increasing biodiversity.

Reference Site

The Reference site for this project is the Rose creek Nature Preserve, which is located near Albion, WA. This is used as a site of reference because it is on an original Palouse Prairie landscape, that is the landscape that was once everywhere on the Palouse before it was converted for agricultural purposes. The preserve is a highly biodiverse ecosystem with a landscape that is blanketed with a wide array of native vegetation along the rolling hills and nestled near the stream (Rose Creek Nature Preserve). This type of diverse landscape is a perfect habitat for many kinds of animal species. One of the many species using the creek as home, are beavers. Beavers being the ecosystem engineers that they are, have constructed numerous dams along the creek (Rose Creek Nature Preserve).

Restoration Objectives

To build the abundance of native vegetation in the riparian zone more trees and shrubs should be planted near the stream. For the native plants that have already been planted, they should be kept up with to be sure that they are growing successfully. To decrease the number of non-native plants in the riparian area, there needs to be up-keep done at the site to make sure the plants are kept under control. One of the biggest invasive plants at this site is reed canary grass. It grows very abundantly at the site so it is almost impossible to keep it away. Since it grows so abundantly, it outcompetes a lot of the native plants that are trying to grow at the site. Once the reed canary grass is under control, that will allow more native plants to grow instead, create more flow in the stream, and hopefully become a better habitat for aquatic organisms (Anderson, 2012).

Action Plan

To start the restoration process, a team of workers or volunteers should be formed, that are able to visit the site at least once a week. Materials for this action plan include, gloves, pruning shears/loppers, and waders or rubber boots. This group is responsible for looking after the young, and growing native vegetation that has been planted in recent projects. The team should be repairing fencing/netting around plants, and getting rid of weeds or invasive plants near the young native plants to remove any competition. This team is also responsible for cutting and pulling invasive plants from the area, this will need to be done at least once a week to be sure they are under control. To get rid of the reed canary grass that grows in the riparian zone, the canary grass needs to be cut back or pulled.

Materials needed for this are gloves, waders, and loppers/pruning shears. Since there is so much of it at this site this should be done multiple times a year (Anderson, 2012). To help control the problem on a longer-term scale, larger trees should be planted on both sides of the streams in the riparian zones to shade the stream, because the reed canary grass does not grow well without a lot of sunlight (Anderson, 2012). For this there will need to be trees ready to plant, soil, compost, shovels, and gloves will be needed. As stated before, the creek is near a lot of well-traveled areas, so putting in more garbage cans along the walking path, and talking to the business nearby to add more garbage’s to their parking lots. This will help control the amount of litter that could potentially be transported into the creek.

Study Plan

Along with the control of invasive plants at this site, caring to the growing native plants should also be kept up with until they have matured. The growth of the native plants should be tracked throughout the years to assess if the abundance of native vegetation has increased. To do this, measurements of the individual plants should be taken, like the height, width, and trunk/base circumference. To track this on a longer-term basis, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in GIS could be used to detect vegetation biomass at the site. This could be done the year the restoration is started, and then compared to a NDVI done a few years later to assess if vegetation has successfully grown in abundance. For this to work, controlling invasive plants will still need to be dealt with because we want the native vegetation to grow, and the NDVI just shows vegetation biomass in general.

Something else that should be monitored is the presence of organisms at the site. Observations should be taken prior to restoration of what kind of organisms have been seen at the site. As in, certain kinds of birds, aquatic organisms, or possibly small mammals. This project will be communicated with the public so they can be informed on the site, and anyone can get involved as a volunteer. Since past projects at this site have been mostly maintained by community members, students and faculty of Washington State University they will all be well informed about this project (Washington State University Org Sync, 2017). It is hoped that this project could be tied to the maintenance they are still doing on this site, so more people are informed and willing to volunteer to help.

Conclusion

If this restoration plan proves to be successful then the Missouri Flat Creek site will be abundant with native vegetation, and a habitat for many different species of animals, both on the land and aquatic. This site will have to be kept up with for many years to come, it will also take years to be able to tell if the project was successful or not, because it can take years for some plants and trees to reach full size. Some anticipated changes that may impact the site in the future, may be a growth in business and buildings in the area. This could cause the site to be a more travelled area, which could be both good and bad. More people means more people can be educated on the site and more appreciative, but could also mean more garbage and litter that could impact the Missouri Flat Creek ecosystem. If this plan has been successfully done, then the site will have characteristics like the reference site, Rose Creek, that is rich with biodiversity.

Literature Cited

Washington State University Org Sync (2017) Restoration Volunteer: Missouri Flat Creek https://orgsync.com/52279/opportunities/1934704/occurrences/4498229 (accessed 4 November 2018).
Anderson, H. (2012) Invasive Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea subsp. arundinacea) In: Best Management Practices in Ontario. Ontario Invasive Plant Council, Peterborough, ON. https://www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/OIPC_BMP_ReedCanaryGrass.pdf
Strickler, KM. (2018) “Watershed, stream, and riparian restoration”. SOE 454, 19 September 2018. Washington State University. Lecture.
Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute (n.d.) Rose Creek Nature Preserve https://pcei.org/rose-creek/ (accessed on 4 November 2018)
USGS (August 1996) Riparian Areas Environmental Uniqueness, Functions, and Values https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/technical/?cid=nrcs143_014199 (accessed 4 November 2018)

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