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Riparian Zone Estimation Tool Hydrologic Connectivity Module Field Plan

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Riparian Zone Estimation Tool Hydrologic Connectivity Module Field Plan Riparian Zone Estimation Tool Hydrologic Connectivity Module Field Plan Prepared by the San Francisco Estuary Institute CONTRIBUTION Wetlands Focus Area NO. 744 DECEMBER Decision Support Tool for Appropriately Sizing Riparian Buffers 2013 Proposition 50 CALFED Watershed Protection Grant Program Grant Agreement Number: #10-429-550 June 9, 2011 − March 31, 2015 SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY INSTITUTE 4911 Central Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 p: 510-746-7334 (SFEI) • www.sfei.org Funding for this project was provided in full or in part through an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board. The project does not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the State Water Resources Control Board, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products within any of the documentation constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. For more information please contact: Scott Dusterhoff, [email protected] 510-746-7350 THIS REPORT SHOULD BE CITED AS: SFEI (2013). Riparian Zone Estimation Tool. Hydrologic Connectivity Module Field Plan. Prepared by the San Francisco Estuary Institute - Wetlands Focus Area. Funded by Proposition 50 Watershed Protection Program Grant. Agreement Number: #10-429-550. Contribution #744. Richmond, CA 94804. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Background & Purpose ............................................................................................. 3 1.2 Overall Approach ...................................................................................................... 4 2. Survey Design ................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Site selection ............................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Data collection .......................................................................................................... 6 2.2.1 Study reach establishment .................................................................................. 6 2.2.2 Cross-section survey .......................................................................................... 7 2.2.3 Channel & floodplain roughness assessment ..................................................... 7 2.3 Data management .................................................................................................... 12 3. Schedule ........................................................................................................................ 12 4. References ..................................................................................................................... 13 List of Figures Figure 1. Phase 1 field site locations ................................................................................. 6 List of Tables Table 1. Channel roughness adjustment factor values (from Arcement and Schneider 1989) ................................................................................................................................... 9 Table 2. Base roughness values for channels and floodplains (from Arcement and Schneider 1989) ................................................................................................................ 10 Table 3. Floodplain roughness adjustment factor values (modified from Arcement and Schneider 1989) ................................................................................................................ 11 Table 4. Schedule for field data collection and management .......................................... 13 List of Appendices Appendix A. Phase 1 Site Selection 1. Introduction 1.1 Background & Purpose The loss of riparian areas throughout California has greatly impacted water quality and habitat conditions, which has resulted in a number of challenges for resource managers and the public in terms of water management and land use planning. Riparian areas, defined here as floodplains area adjacent streams and wetlands, provide a multitude of functions or ecologic services for their adjacent aquatic habitats including shading, bank stabilization, organic and inorganic input, filtration, ground water recharge, and downstream flood reduction. In the face of ongoing development and climate change, there is a great need for land use planners to have tools available that can help them delineate and map the desired extent of riparian functional areas in developed watersheds targeted for restoration or relatively undisturbed watersheds targeted for development. To increase the ability to enhance and protect riparian zones, SFEI received funding from the Proposition 50 CALFED Watershed Protection program to develop a geospatial tool capable of delineating the desired extent of riparian functional areas by building upon our existing Riparian Areas Mapping Tool (RAMT v.1). RAMT v.1 is a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool that estimates existing vegetative (allochthanus inputs, large woody debris, shading, bank stabilization) and hillslope (hillside sediment inputs from processes such as dry raveling and landslides) riparian functional areas along lower order, higher gradient stream channels. The tool uses publicly available input data combined with representative values taken from published literature and scientific expertise to generate functional riparian widths based on existing land use, vegetation, and slope. This project seeks to expand the RAMT v.1 by developing a new module that uses local flow hydraulics to size riparian areas along higher order, lower gradient single- thread stream channels based on functions identified as important by the State Water Resources Control Board including flood attenuation, runoff reduction, and aquatic habitat and water quality improvement. The final product for this project will be a scientifically based Riparian Zone Estimation Tool (RipZET) that combines the existing two RAMT v.1 modules with the new module, called the Hydrologic Connectivity Module (HCM). In undisturbed low-lying, higher order channel valleys, riparian vegetation typically exists out to the inundation extent for larger floods (Ilhardt et al. 2000). As such, the HCM has the ability to assess local flooding extent as a means of determining desired function riparian areas for either developed or undisturbed channel reaches. Within the HCM, reach-scale flooding is assessed as a function of discharge, topography, and boundary roughness using what is termed the “Discharge Approach.” Flooding extent is determined in this approach using a modified form of Manning’s equation: Q = 1.486(A)(R2/3)(S1/2) n where; Q = flow discharge (ft3s-1), A = flow area (ft), R = hydraulic radius (similar to average flow depth, ft) S = slope of the energy grade line (similar to reach-average channel bed slope, ft/ft), and n = Manning’s roughness coefficient. Using this equation with local channel-floodplain topography and roughness data enables calculation of flow depth and flow width (or inundation extent) for a range of flow discharge values. With an overall understanding of the desired functional riparian extent in low-lying floodplain areas (e.g., floodway inundated at least every 5-50 years), it is possible to use this equation with local flood frequency information to obtain a general estimate of appropriate local functional riparian width. Developing useful local discharge-flow depth and discharge-inundation extent relationships capable of sizing functional riparian widths requires high resolution topographic and roughness data. As the ultimate goal for the HCM is to be easy to use and based in large part on readily available data, the module development requires understanding the sensitivity of these relationships to input data resolution (e.g., using high resolution field-based data compared to lower resolution, publically available spatial datasets and empirical literature values). Once this sensitivity is understood, recommendations regarding the necessary data sources for HCM application can be developed. This document serves as the plan for collecting field data required for building the HCM and assessing HCM output sensitivity to data source resolution. Here, we present a phased approach for collecting the high resolution channel and floodplain topographic and roughness data used in calculating local flow hydraulics and estimating local flooding. Due to regional concerns over rapid development of riparian areas throughout the San Francisco Bay-Delta (including watersheds extending from Shasta County to Fresno County), we are focusing the field data collection effort and initial HCM testing in several developed North Bay watersheds. In addition, the areas selected for study have fine-scale geospatial data that will be used during HCM development (e.g., the Bay Area Aquatic Resource Inventory, LiDAR, and Vegcamp). Subsequent project phases should include field efforts that focus on assessing HCM sensitivity to data sources in other regions throughout the state. 1.2 Overall Approach The overall field approach entails collecting channel topographic and roughness data at eight representative channel locations throughout the northern Bay Area (i.e, the same focus area as the recent RipZET Regional Curve Study [Collins and Leventhal 2013]). Field sites suitable for use within this study are low-gradient, alluvial channels with broad floodplains low in the watershed (i.e., reaches that historically stored or currently store
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