Abstract
Riparian areas are of great ecological and cultural importance. They provide a variety of ecosystem services, protecting water quality, minimizing climatological changes, and acting as valuable wildlife habitat. They are often also places of connection and access to resources for indigenous communities. Powers Creek, a tributary of the Baduwa’t, is one such place for the Blue Lake Rancheria tribal community. Through the utilization of the process based restoration methodology, our team was able to develop dynamic, place-based solutions for the environmental ails impacting Powers Creek. On-site vegetation and rock weirs were employed as low-tech bioengineering technologies in order to slow bank erosion. Culturally important species planted near the creek were identified, denoted as living, dead, or unknown, and mapped for use in future restoration efforts. In enacting this restoration plan, our team discovered that vegetative mortality rates were high, and that there was no long-term monitoring plan in place to track bank erosion. Thus, we determined that incorporating prescriptive methods alongside increased opportunities for management and monitoring into future restoration of Powers Creek could improve hydrological conditions and increase access to cultural resources for the Blue Lake Rancheria community.
Date
Spring 2024
Department
Environmental Science & Management
Concentration/Emphasis
Ecological Restoration
Advisor/Professor
Daniel Lipe
Citation Style
APA
Included in
Environmental Monitoring Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Sustainability Commons