Proposal for Monitoring and Research Demonstration (2)

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Proposed Goals and Objectives for Monitoring The overall goal of this proposal is to implement monitoring on NPPD's Cottonwood Ranch Property. Specific objectives are: 1) To document physical characteristics of the Platte River channels both within the Cottonwood Ranch and immediately downstream. 2) To develop protocols specific to monitoring the effects of management actions in the Cottonwood Ranch, that are a subset of monitoring protocols for the general physical monitoring of the river system within the PRESP, and to evaluate the suitability of the protocols for system-wide monitoring where appropriate. 3) To integrate the general monitoring program within the Cottonwood Ranch Property river channels into the monitoring scheme devised for adaptive management within the PRESP's area of interest. Expected Results and Benefits from Proposed Monitoring The proposed monitoring program will provide both a monitoring framework and a comprehensive data set of important variables (Table 1). The data will be managed in an empirical database that will be examined to compare and contrast statistically significant trends and empirical relationships that may exist between variables. This analysis will help assess the integrated effects of channel clearing on channel topography, bank stability, and vegetation patterns over time. The level of detail will be sufficient to address the basic monitoring requirements that result from channel restoration permit/regulatory review (e.g. Clean Water Act). In addition, the low-level monitoring alternative will be designed to incorporate subsequent channel morphology research and monitoring protocols (milestone R2-1) and procedures for evaluating habitat mitigation measures (milestone R3-1) of the Cooperative Agreement, as the detailed plans become approved. Proposed Methods for Monitoring The general monitoring component focuses on collecting cross sections of the river and examining serial aerial photography (aerial photographs are expected to be obtained as a separate contract). Measurements at these cross sections include changes in channel topography, vegetation, and bed material grain size. Cross sections include the area upstream of the treated area, within the treated area of Cottonwood Ranch, and downstream of the treated area. Some or all of these cross sections may ultimately be part of the generalized monitoring scheme employed by PRESP's adaptive management of the Big Bend area of Nebraska. A series of eight cross-sections will be selected within and bracketing the Cottonwood Ranch Property (Table 2). Some of these cross-sections are coincident with existing sections put in place by the Bureau of Reclamation and Nebraska Public Power District. New sections will include only the river channels that may potentiallv be directly affected by management practices or downstream from managed areas. Each section will be resurveyed and re-photographed once a year to document changes in bed elevation and the condition of banks and vegetation on islands and adjacent to the channel. Across each section bed material samples will be collected and composited in order to document potential changes in grain-size distribution. Bed material Page 3 of 15