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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
<br />The Eagle River watershed is an extraordinary resource that providing a host of ecosystem services and
<br />bene~its. It is also a system characterized by complexity and change. With a rapidly growing population
<br />focusing land use conversions in and near the river corridor coupled with growing pressures for water from
<br />within and without, the fate of the Eagle River is increasingly determined by our decisions and stewardship,
<br />This report describes the results of the Eagle River Inventory and Assessment (ERIA), a joint effort of
<br />Colorado State University (CSU) and the Eagle River Watershed Council (ERWC) to assess the current state
<br />of the Eagle River watershed from a basinwide ecological perspective and to prioritize potential restoration
<br />activities to improve the integrity of the river system. The objectives of the Eagle River Inventory dnd
<br />Assessrnent are;
<br />l. Undertake a systematic, watershed-wide inventory of channel, riparian, and upland characteristics
<br />that currently control the ecological integrity of the Eagle River,
<br />2. Collect and assess planning efforts of this type that have been performed by various agencies and
<br />organizations on selected sites within the watershed.
<br />3. Perform an analysis of existing monitoring information to assess the status of various waterbodies and
<br />river reaches in the watershed and determine sources of pollution and degradation.
<br />4. Identify and describe candidate conservation and restoration projects (structural and non-structural)
<br />and link them to current issues and likely outcomes through field reconnaissance, meetings with
<br />watershed stakeholders, Geographic Information System (GIS) inventory and analysis (e,g,, riparian
<br />conditions, land cover, geomorphic processes, etc.), and scientific assessment.
<br />5. Prioritize restoration strategies in a decision matrix based on potential benefits, likelihood of success,
<br />rough estimates of costs, and stakeholder input.
<br />6. Produce a report describing the results of watershed inventory and prioritized recommendations for
<br />restoration projects and strategies.
<br />With a drainage area of nearly 1,000 square miles, the Eagle River watershed encompasses a complex
<br />array of natural processes, human influences, and candidate restoration activities. Time, as well as financial
<br />constraints, inevitably limit the ecological, hydrologic, and geomorphic assessment of large river basins. The
<br />E~gle River Inventory dnd Assessment is no exception in that these constraints necessitated a restricted focus on
<br />the predominant stressors in the watershed, maintaining balance between collection of new information and
<br />adequate analysis of the large body of existing information relevant to the project. The approach adopted for
<br />this study primarily relied on the targeted utilization of numerous existing data sets, rapid synoptic surveys of
<br />riparian and instream conditions, interpretation of aerial photography, GIS analyses, historical information,
<br />local knowledge, and expert judgment,
<br />Fortunately, a wide variety of water quality, hydrologic, and other types of data have been collected in
<br />the basin, albeit often for disparate purposes and using variable protocols. Many of the existing data sets
<br />collected have been examined in the context of individual projects or agency goals related to some specific
<br />aspect of water quality or management, as opposed to basin-scale assessment, management, and restoration of
<br />ecological integrity. Nonetheless, the large body of existing data coupled with field reconnaissance provided a
<br />sufficient basis to identify general patterns and trends in system characteristics, key stressors, and potential
<br />bene~its of various management and restoration activities.
<br />Although some questions were answered during this effort, numerous questions remain and many new
<br />questions arose. Ultimately, the results of the Eagle River Inventory dnd Assessment point to the necessity of an
<br />ongoing adaptive management effort in the region. Adaptive watershed management may be described
<br />simply as a process of:
<br />l. setting goals,
<br />2, taking actions based on the best available information,
<br />ii Eagle River Inventory and Assessment
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