Middle Rio Grande River Maintenance Program Comprehensive Plan and Guide Appendix A: Middle Rio Grande Maintenance and Restoration Methods Middle Rio Grande Project, New Mexico Upper Colorado Region U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation April 2012 Mission Statements The U.S. Department of the Interior protects America’s natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future. The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Middle Rio Grande River Maintenance Program Comprehensive Plan and Guide Appendix A: Middle Rio Grande Maintenance and Restoration Methods Middle Rio Grande Project, New Mexico Upper Colorado Region River Maintenance Plan Team: Albuquerque Area Office Joseph Maestas, Manager, Technical Services Division, P.E. Robert Padilla, Supervisory Hydraulic Engineer, River Analysis Group, P.E. Jonathan AuBuchon, Senior Hydraulic Engineer, P.E. Cheryl Rolland, Senior Hydraulic Engineer, P.E. Carolyn Donnelly, Hydraulic Engineer, P.E. Gary Dean, Fishery Biologist Yvette Paroz, Fishery Biologist Vicky Ryan, Wildlife Biologist Jeanne Dye, Fishery Biologist Valda Terauds, Planner, C.G.W.P. Robert Doster, Wildlife Biologist Michael DeWayne Porter, Fishery Biologist, C.F.P. Candice Ford, Realty Specialist Technical Service Center Paula Makar, Hydraulic Engineer, P.E. Drew Baird, Hydraulic Engineer, P.E. David Varyu, Hydraulic Engineer, P.E. S. David Moore, Wildlife Biologist Steve Hiebert, Fishery Biologist Katherine Zehfus, Fishery Biologist Debra Callahan, Natural Resource Biologist Darrell Ahlers, Wildlife Biologist U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation April 2012 Acronyms and Abbreviations Acronyms and Abbreviations cfs cubic feet per second CSU Colorado State University ESA Endangered Species Act. FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FES fabric encapsulated soil GIS geographic information system GRF gradient restoration facilities Interior U.S. Department of the Interior LFCC Low Flow Conveyance Channel LWD large woody debris Reclamation Bureau of Reclamation Rc the centerline radius of curvature RGSM Rio Grande silvery minnow RM river mile SRH-1D Sedimentation and River Hydraulics One-Dimensional Model SRH-2D Sedimentation and River Hydraulics Two-Dimensional Model SWFL Southwestern willow flycatcher UK United Kingdom USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers W channel top width WDFW Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife iii Contents Contents Page Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................................................................... iii Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................. 1 1.1 General Description of Methods ...................................................... 1 1.2 Ranking and Ranking Criteria .......................................................... 2 1.3 Biological/Ecological Response and Geomorphic Processes and River Response to Method Application .................... 3 1.4 Engineering Effectiveness ................................................................ 4 1.5 Overall Project Development Process .............................................. 4 1.6 Description of Method Selection ..................................................... 6 1.7 Method Summary Tables ................................................................. 8 Chapter 2. Infrastructure Relocation or Setback ............................................ 9 2.1 General Range of Application .......................................................... 10 2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ........................................................ 10 2.2.1 Advantages ................................................................................ 10 2.2.2 Disadvantages ........................................................................... 12 2.3 Requirements .................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3. Channel Modification ................................................................... 17 3.1 Complete Channel Reconstruction and Maintenance (e.g., Temporary Channel into Elephant Butte) ............................... 17 3.1.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 18 3.1.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 19 3.1.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 21 3.2 Channel Relocation Using Pilot Channel or Pilot Cuts (also Includes Re-meandering or Meander Restoration, and Re-establishing Historical Abandoned Oxbows) ...................... 22 3.2.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 24 3.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 25 3.2.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 27 3.3 Island and Bank Clearing and Destabilization (Includes Channel Widening) .......................................................................... 29 v Middle Rio Grande River Maintenance Program Comprehensive Plan and Guide Appendix A: Middle Rio Grande Maintenance and Restoration Methods Contents (continued) Page 3.3.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 30 3.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 31 3.3.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 33 3.4 Pilot Cuts Through Sediment Plugs ................................................. 34 3.4.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 35 3.4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 36 3.4.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 37 3.5 Side Channels (High Flow, Perennial, and Oxbow Re-establishment) ............................................................................. 38 3.5.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 39 3.5.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 40 3.5.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 41 3.6 Longitudinal Bank Lowering or Compound Channels .................... 42 3.6.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 43 3.6.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 43 3.6.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 45 3.7 Longitudinal Dikes (Includes Training Dikes, Freeboard Dikes, Culverts, and Low Water Crossings) .................................... 47 3.7.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 49 3.7.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 52 3.7.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 55 3.8 Levee Strengthening ......................................................................... 58 3.8.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 59 3.8.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 60 3.8.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 60 Chapter 4. Bank Protection/ Stabilization Measures ..................................... 63 4.1 Longitudinal Features – Fixed Bank Line Location and No Change to Thalweg Location ..................................................... 63 4.1.1 Common Aspects and Channel Response Longitudinal Features (Riprap Revetments and Longitudinal Stone Toe with Bioengineering) ......................... 63 4.1.2 Riprap Revetment ..................................................................... 68 vi Contents Contents (continued) Page 4.1.3 Longitudinal Stone Toe (Toe Protection) with Bioengineering .......................................................................... 71 4.2 Longitudinal Features—Where Erosion Can Continue To Reach the Bank Line Stabilization Treatment – Trench Filled Riprap Revetment and Riprap Windrow Revetment (Setback Revetment) ...................................................... 76 4.2.1 General Range of Application .................................................. 77 4.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 78 4.2.3 Requirements ............................................................................ 79 4.3 Longitudinal Features – Deformable Bank Line and Thalweg Location ............................................................................. 81 4.3.1 Deformable Stone Toe with Bioengineering and Bank Lowering.......................................................................... 81 4.3.2 General Range of Application .................................................. 82 4.3.3 Advantages and Disadvantages ................................................. 83 4.3.4 Requirements ............................................................................ 85 4.3.5 Bioengineering .......................................................................... 87 4.4 Transverse Features (Including the New Technologies Being Developed Jointly by Reclamation and Colorado