The 19th Annual Berkeley River Restoration Symposium was held Saturday, December 9th, 9:00 am – 3:30pm at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design.
The symposium began with a keynote talk by Dr Sarah Yarnell (UC Davis) on Restoring ecological benefits of floodplains, followed by a discussion by Dr Anna Serra-Llobet (UC Berkeley) on Integrating ecological goals in flood risk management: what went wrong in the US? Presentations of graduate student research covered a range of topics, including changes in bed sediment downstream of San Clemente Dam removal on the Carmel River, effects of a debris flow on lamprey habitat on the Salmon River, how people recreate in the Salinas and Lower American Rivers, maintaining habitat values of Elkhorn Slough in the face of sea level rise, assessing restoration in Afton Canyon of the Mojave River, effects of a beaver dam breach on French Creek, restoring step-pool habitat on Wildcat Creek, restoring a reach of North Fork Strawberry Creek, and restoring Lobos Creek. In addition there was an update on the Kern River (how will it be restored?), and an expert panel that discussed issues raised in the research presentations.
Full program below.
9a – Keynote Lectures:
Restoring ecological benefits of floodplains. Sarah Yarnell, UC Davis
Integrating ecological goals in flood risk management: what went wrong in the US? Anna Serra Llobet, UC Berkeley
10a – Graduate Student Research (moderated by Justine Ecker-Moss):
Long-term fluctuations in sediment composition post large dam removal on the Carmel River, California. Cassidy Gilmore, Titli Thind, Will van Boldrik
In Search of Sand: Debris Flows and Pacific Lamprey Habitat, Salmon River, California. Kim Deniz, Casey Jones
Post-breach Monitoring of a Natural Beaver Dam on French Creek. Kendyl Bree, Eleanor Beshlian
1045a – Break
1100a – Graduate Student Research (continued, moderated by Justine Ecker-Moss):
Public access and social connectivity in the American River parkway. Grayson Curtis, Nico Lira
Restoring Social Connection to the Salinas River: For Whom, Where, and How? Madeira BooydeGraaff, Florencia Sepulveda, Shrabya Timsina
1130 – Panel discussion: Sarah Yarnell, Anna Serra Llobet, Matt Deitch
1200 – lunch break
1p – Update on the Kern River (How will it be restored?). Adam Keats, Ted Grantham, Peter Vorster
120p – Graduate Student Research (continued, moderated by Ruby Zalduondo):
Maintaining habitat values of Elkhorn Slough in face of sea level rise. Emma Lasky, Olivia Won
Post-Project Assessment of Step-Pool Channel Morphology in Wildcat Creek, Tilden Golf Course. Carina Swann, Vermouth Li, Ashley Cao
Restoration of Lobos Creek, San Francisco’s last free-flowing stream. Alex Jordan, Alan Rosenthal
Baseline data for the Pinoleville Pomo Nation’s restoration of Ackerman Creek. Eli Demosthenes, Kanani D’Angelo
Strawberry Creek Restoration: Advancing Stewardship in the North Fork. Eleanor Reiff, Kinley Flaherty, Eytan Stanton
Post-Project Appraisal of Mojave River Restoration, Afton Canyon. Ailbhe Yasmin Wallis
3p Panel Discussion. John Steere, Andy Chamberlain, Kirstin Weeks
330p Adjourn
Keynote Presentation
Restoring Ecological Benefits of Floodplains
Dr Sarah Yarnell (UC Davis)
Functioning floodplains provide a suite of ecosystem services that provide benefits to humans, including not only flood risk reduction, which is easily quantified, but biodiversity and ecological benefits that can be harder to value. However, most floodplains have been disconnected from their river channels to support urban development and agricultural production, resulting in low biodiversity, limited ecological productivity, and increased vulnerability to catastrophic change. High biodiversity and ecological resilience is supported when variable flow regimes interact with spatially heterogeneous river channel and flood- plain forms. Restoration approaches that focus on the ecological and geomorphological functionality of particular aspects of the flow regime, consider geomorphic context, and emphasize spatiotemporal diversity at key locations in the riverscape, such as adjacent floodplains, can help to restore the biodiversity and resilience of hydrologically altered rivers and connected freshwater ecosystems.