Eagle River Inventory and Assessment

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• provides research priorities by showing whether resolving particular uncertainties would affect the preferred option(s). 8. Watershed restoration projects are as much a social undertaking as an ecological one: understand social systems that may support or constrain restoration while establishing long-term personal, institutional, and financial commitments, 9. Some strategies will work, some won't, and some will take many years to assess. Be patient and learn through careful long-term monitoring of key ecological processes and biotic elements. Reevaluate and update the restoration strategy. 10. The best strategy is to prevent degradation rather than attempting to control or repair damage after it begins. The Eagle River Invento~y and Assessment has been guided by these principles, Scientific literature on river restoration constructs a compelling case for making a system-level assessment of watershed processes the highest priority. Given the large body of existing information and data available for the watershed, an essential first step is translating fragmented disciplinary information into interdisciplinary understanding of processes. First and foremost, we have sought to adhere to this principle, identifying watershed-scale patterns in major stressors and alterations, Such effort necessitates investigations of hydrologic processes and instream flows, nutrient loading, metals loading, large-scale habitat loss and fragmentation, potential interactions between water quantity and quality, and future threats to ecological integrity. This approach is substantially different from assessments that generate reach-by-reach snapshots of physical habitat structure to target site-specific tactics. The frequent failure of tactical projects to restore ecosystem amenities and ecological integrity warrants the initial investment in examining these larger questions. Although the recommendations presented in the Edgle River Inventory ~nd Assessment inevitably fall short of providing comprehensive information on all processes and potential projects, the focus on detecting system-level stressors and integration of existing knowledge is requisite for building comprehensive and sustainable strategies to restore the integrity of the Eagle River watershed. ES.3 WATERSHED OVERVIEW, HISTORY, AND POLICY Over the course of the project, CSU reviewed and compiled hundreds of documents. Previous reports and existing data sources that played a critical role in developing the Eagle River Inventory and Assessment include the: 2002 Eagle Rive~ ~ater Qudlity Management Plan (Northwest Colorado Council of Governments (NWCCOG), 2002), Edgle River ~atershed Plan (1996), Eagle River Assembly (ERA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports and water-quality database, Eagle Mine monitoring and analysis reports, instream flow quantification field forms and related reports by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), and numerous historical documents and photographs from the Denver Public Library and other sources, In addition to a brief review of these documents, this report provides a synopsis of watershed characteristics, a brief history of the Eagle River watershed, and a survey of current policies relating to riparian zones and stormwater management, ES.4 ANALYSIS OF WATERSHED CHARACTERISTICS (THE AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT) ES.4.1 Land Use GIS and aerial photograph analyses indicate that the most intense land use change is focused in or near the riparian corridors of the main stem Eagle River and Gore Creek, despite small percentages of developed land use in the overall watershed. For example, an analysis of land cover data suggests that total developed land use in the Gore Creek watershed is approximately 2%. Developed land cover within 100 m and 30 m of iv Eagle River Inventory and Assessment