Rehabilitating Valley Floors to a Stage 0 Condition: A Synthesis of Opening Outcomes

Degraded floodplains and valley floors are restored with the goal of enhancing habitat for native fish aquatic-riparian biota protection or improvement water quality. Recent years have seen a shift toward “process-based restoration” that is intended to reestablish compromised ecogeomorphic processes resulting from site- watershed-scale degradation. One form process-based restoration has developed in Pacific Northwest, United States, reconnect rivers their by slowing down flows sediment, water, nutrients encourage lateral vertical connectivity at base flows, facilitating development dynamic, self-forming, self-sustaining river-wetland corridors. Synergies between applied practices theoretical work Cluer Thorne 2014 led this be referred regionally as Stage 0 condition. This approach rehabilitation scale, rendering traditional monitoring strategies target single-thread channels inadequate capture pre- post-project site conditions, thus motivating novel approaches. We present specific definition new type was collaborative workshops practitioners approach. Further, we an initial synthesis results activities provide foundation understanding effects river on substrate composition, depth groundwater, temperature, macroinvertebrate richness abundance, secondary production, vegetation wood loading configuration, inundation, flow velocity, modeled juvenile salmonid habitat, aquatic biodiversity.