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Reclamation of Riparian Zones and Water Law:
First in Time - First in Right 1
Quentin D. Skinner, Michael A. Smith,
2
Jerrold L. Dodd, and J. Daniel Rodgers
Theory, research approach and preliminary results of
research designed to reclaim a degraded desert steppe stream and
riparian zones in Wyoming will be presented.
Using trash
collectors, willow, and beaver dams to trap sediment, and
stabilize bedload for creating additional water storage in
riparian zones and their management will be discussed in terms of
user rights.
The University of Wyoming is presently
involved in and committed to riparian ecosystem
research as are many other universities and land
management agencies. Some, like Wyoming, are
involved with reclaiming degraded streams and
riparian zones. Scientists at Wyoming, however,
are now asking a hypothetical question that could
very well be asked by the chief administrator of
Wyoming's water, the State Engineer. This
question is: What effect does reclamation of
streams and riparian zones have on downstream
water regimes and consequently on water rights?
Quite frankly the academic community has no
answer. The question is legitimate and may need
to be answered before multiple users of riparian
zones eliminate one anothers use privilege based
on emotionalism without hydrologic information to
support management decisions.
legal question of rights and priority for
water needed for maintenance of aquatic and
riparian habitat has not been answered in
Wyoming. The academic community has yet to
determine quantity, quality, and timing of water
needed to maintain these zones in a desired
condition. The academic and land managment
communities nation-wide have, however, shown why
riparian zones are important.
IMPORTANCE
Riparian zones are used by a wide variety
of interest groups (Kauffman and Krueger 1984).
Apparent causes for concentration of multiple
uses in riparian zones are the vegetation species
diversity and productivity, and proximity to
open water. High species diversity in the
riparian zones is reported by Campbell and Green
(1968). The vegetation of this zone stabilizes
stream channels by creating a rough surface
which reduces stream flow velocity while roots
hold bank material together (Li and Shen 1973,
and Andrews et al. 1983). Because vegetation
traps sediment on banks, water quality is
improved (Schumm 1963, Andrews 1982). Lowrance
et al. (1985) show how interflow between bank
waters and streams in riparian zones further
improves water quality. Increase in water
quality promotes diverse aquatic habitat and
thus improves fisheries (Platts 1981). Riparian
habitat and its value to wildlife is well
documented (Thomas et al. 1979). Increased edge
effect for area occupied (Odum 1978) and
vegetation structural diversity compared to
surrounding plant communities are often
characteristic of riparian zones (Anderson et
al. 1983). Both are important for maintaining
habitat for a diverse wildlife species
composition (Ohmart and Anderson 1978).
Likewise, high vegetation production, free
flowing water, flat terrain, and shade are cited
as reasons livestock use riparian habitat
(Kauffman and Krueger 1984). Besides showing
importance of riparian zones, the academic and
land management communities nation-wide have
Wyoming's water law is based on the Colorado
Doctrine of prior appropriation (Trelease 1979).
Other Rocky Mountain states regulate water under
this legal doctrine which is based on two basic
principles: 1) Water must be put to beneficial
use and is not tied to land ownership and 2)
priority of use solely determines how water is
divided among users when shortages in supply
exist. In Wyoming, beneficial use is not defined
completely by statute but probably includes two
concepts, the nature of use and the non-wasteful
application of the use. Wyoming statutes define
preferred uses. A preferred use is not an
exclusive definition of beneficial use. Use of
water for maintenance of aquatic and riparian
habitat is not a legally documented preferred use
in Wyoming. In addition, many streams are fully
appropriated. Water not now appropriated will be
junior to existing rights when appropriated. The
1
Riparian Ecosystems and their Management,
Reconciling Conflicting Uses, 1st North American
Riparian Conference, Tucson, Arizona, April
16-18, 1985.
2
Associate Professors of Range Management
University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.
374
documented user impacts and are studying ways to
mitigate them.
production for grazing, wildlife habitat, and
recreation.
USER IMPACTS
RECLAMATION OF DEGRADED STREAMS
AND RIPARIAN ZONES
Users of riparian zones may cause soil compaction, slough off undercut stream banks, and
denude vegetation along channels. These actions
can increase erosion leading to stream channel
widening, downcutting, or both (Meehan and Platts
1978 and Thomas et al. 1979). The results of
this erosive action may be loss in: 1)
floodplain water tables, 2) floodplain soil
moisture, 3) aquatic habitat quality, 4)
fisheries, 5) plant vigor, and 6) plant species
diversity (Jahn 1978, Platts 1981). Examples of
stream degradation and channelization are noted
by Meehan and Platts (1978) and Roath and Krueger
(1982). Recovery of stream channels, aquatic
habitat, fisheries, and riparian vegetation after
livestock removal was demonstrated by Platts
(1981). These researchers used exclosures to
eliminate grazing along stream reaches with
different grazing management strategies to
hopefully document how best to conserve riparian
and aquatic habitat. Little research has been
initiated to reclaim streams and riparian zones
to promote water storage, control nonpoint source
pollution, and answer questions related to water
rights and demand for new supplies downstream.
This is in contrast to studies designed to
evaluate removing riparian vegetation to increase
water supplies downstream.
Invading riparian plants stabilize stream
bars, islands, and flood-plains. Often bars
become islands and channels around islands are
closed to form floodplains bordering one
channel. This occurs when flushing flows are
unable to remove established vegetation and
overbank flooding deposits sediment to further
advance channel filling. This normally 'occurs
in low gradient rather than steep stream
reaches. When stream flow r~gime is in equilibrium with channel size and bank resistivity,
developed riparian zones may dictate geomorphological character of the stream system (Leopold
et al. 1964, Graf 1978, Heede, 1981). This
process may begin in a wide, degraded stream
channel when surface flow decreases. Low flow
across low gradient channel bottoms meander
thereby increasing stream sinuosity and length.
Permanent aggradation occurs when sediment
deposits from flow and is stabilized by vegetation. Andrews (1982) shows aggradation occurs
first during overbank flooding and bedload
accumulates during lower flows. Accumulated
bedload may persist until the channel narrows to
meet the annual flow regime. Narrowing of the
channel causes increased flow velocity and
accumulated bedload is then transported downstream causing the channel to deepen. Andrews
(1982) further points out that although a stream
maintains an average width and depth in equilibrium with the flow regime, it will move laterally from year to year thus fitting Leopold and
Langbein's (1966) description of meandering
streams. The presence of undercut banks along
stable streams are evidence of lateral movement
of meanders.
INCREASING WATER YIELD BY REDUCING
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
A loss of water through evapotranspiration
cannot be denied. Extensive research has been
conducted to prove water yield increased when
riparian vegetation was removed from flood
plains. Large savings of transpired water when
salt cedar was removed predicted by Gatewood et
al. (1950) and Robinson (1965) were reduced by
Culler (1970) and reduced to even less by Horton
and Campbell (1974). Bowie and Kam (1968) showed
water was saved by removing trees along Cottonwood Creek in western Arizona. Removal of riparian plants to increase water yield has seldom
been implemented in the last decade (Graf 1980).
This perhaps is because short-term increased
yields of water are lost when riparian plants
re-invade cleared riparian zones (Horton and
Campbell, 1974), high cost to benefit ratios
(Graf 1980), other user demands for riparian
zones (Campbell 1970), and downstream loss of
recoverable water to deep aquifers (Davenport et
al. 1982). Certainly conflicts between interests
exist as to how to best manage riparian zones.
Graf (1980) points out that saving water by
reducing transpiration is not as popular as
habitat management for other uses. However,
managers must reduce flooding when riparian
vegetation reduces stream channel conveyance of
flow to and through downstream areas. Conversely, if developed riparian zones cause flooding, why not use this phenomenon to repair
degraded stream channels, store ground water,
control non-point source pollution and increase
Reclaiming degraded streams to support
mature riparian zones depends on deposition and
stabilization of deposited sediment by vegetation. Stream channel transmission loss of water
downstream during a high flow event to surrounding alluvium occurs as shown by Lane et al.
(1970). Loss in flow downstream should cause
aggradation of sediment. Glymph and Holton
(1969) show loss of stream flow from any one
event in semi-arid regions should be maximum
near the mouth of a drainage basin or in larger
basins if channel transmission loss occurs.
Locations of manipulative practices to reclaim
degraded streams based on loss of flow and
aggradation of sediment should have maximized
water travel time. Travel time is maximum in
low gradient meandering reaches often found
farther downstream.
Damming by instream flow structures, like
check dams or trash collectors, and biological
damming by beaver or constrictive channel dams
caused by encroaching banks and riparian zones
cause: 1) reduced flow velocity, 2) stable
bedload and, 3) storage of water in banks
proximal to the dam. Heede (1978 and 1982)
discusses reclamation of gullies using check
375
dams to raise a local base level of ephemeral
stream reaches to decrease gradient slope
upstream. The lower gradient reduces sediment
transport. Following Heede's 1978 and 1982
research, dams should be placed downstream just
above a tributary junction. To achieve greater
restoration of riparian habitat however, the
dam should also be located on a stream reach
having a low gradient where meandering occurs
and a stable floodplain exists. The dam should
then cause bank deposition of sediment and
maximum filling within the upstream drainage
network. Established riparian vegetation and
narrowing of the channel may then eventually
cause water spreading over banks during flood
producing events (Graf 1980).
sediment should cause channel bank encroachment
and vegetation stabilized banks to meet the new
flow regime. Sediment during low flow may
cover original channel substrate and decrease
aquatic diversity until dynamic equilibrium
between flow regime and encroaching channel
banks occur. Then decreased channel width will
increase flow velocity and move bed load downstream, creating deeper channels. The final
product of this use of flow regime to promote
good riparian zone management could be increased
riparian zone area, increased bank water
storage, and a narrower stream channel wi~h
improved aquatic habitat. Recharge of water to
flood plains could occur if discharge from
reservoir storage or diversions are increased
past bank full stage still using the original
reduced supply of water to downstream while
allocation follows a natural flow regime.
Whether reclaiming degraded streams and
riparian zones will affect downstream water
rights is unknown. Monitoring of associated
hydrologic responses when manipulation of
riparian ecosystems occurs is needed. Water has
been left out of most riparian research efforts.
It could, however, be hypothesized that:
The alternative to using a limited supply of
water to create improved aquatic and riparian
habitat is to determine how much and when an
increase in reservoir or diversion release
downstream is needed to flush sediment and
vegetation out of existing channels. During
future periods of short supply or increased
demand from legal users of water appropriate
flushing flows to meet aquatic and riparian zone
habitat needs may not be possible. It will,
therefore, be imperative to understand how to
create riparian zones to meet flow regimes and
maintain desired aquatic conditions.
1.
Increased ground water storage can be
accomplished through improved riparian zone
management. Storage of water in semi-arid
regions of the world during periods of high flow
has been a major justification for constructing
dams. Storage behind dams allow prolonged
conveyance of water during periods of need to
various user groups. Lack of adequate sites for
dams and present economic constraints now limit
construction of new water storage facilities.
Consequently water planners should now look at
initiating alternative ways to store water. One
alternative is to explore storage of water in
floodplain and adjoining aquifers of streams
tributary to those dammed.
3.
Improvement of degraded riparian zones
through ground storage of water may help control
non-point source pollution. Improving water
quality is one way of extending water supplies.
Entrapped sediment and nutrient loading within
reservoirs, and increased salt content downstream
because of water moving through banks to streams
have long been of national interest. Reclaiming
degraded streams tributary to major river systems
using improved riparian zones should help reduce
non-point source pollution in a cost effective
manner. Using vegetation to trap sediment during
high flow events can be effective when economics
limit mechanical and structural treatment of
streams and riparian zones. Water moving
through mature riparian zones as bank storage,
in stream flow across and through meander flood
plains, and bed load behind instream flow
structures is subjected to possible tertiary
treatment for removing nutrients.
Riparian zones and flood plain aquifer
storage should reflect stream channel condition.
Degraded stream channels in poor condition from
downcutting or increase in width may not cause
increased bank storage during high flow events
when excess water from drainage basins are
conveyed downstream. Riparian vegetation may be
limited or absent when stream channels are in
poor condition. Encroachment of riparian vegetation into degraded channels should cause
constrictions in the channel similar to a dam
with a spillway equal to the average yearly
bank full stage of the flow regime. This
natural damming should increase storage of
water during flood events upstream and. across
aquifer-type alluvium in valley floors. Stored
water would then be available later to meet
later flow requirements for downstream uses.
The riparian zone may well be the drainage
basin's one habitat where anaerobic bacterial
activity is maximized. This condition is created
when soil air is replaced by water. Nutrients
capable of being eliminated by anaerobic bacteria
to a gaseous by-product could be reduced in well
managed riparian zones before polluting stream
flow. Certainly the high potential plant production of this zone favors assimilation and
retention of nutrients. Salt load downstream
could be increased because of leaching by repeat
flooding and high watertables but salt in
trapped sediment might be less mobile than in
sediment flowing downstream.
2.
Improvement of riparian zones can create
desired aquatic habitat during decreased flow
and still store water. Flow regime is critical
for maintaining diversity of aquatic and riparian
habitat. Good riparian zone management may
promote flushing flows even when less water or a
steady state flow regime is provided downstream.
For instance, if water planners choose to release
less water from reservoir storage or from diversions to downstream for extended periods of time
376
Demand for aquatic habitat conservation,
reservoirs and inter-basin diversions, channelization to control floods, peak and minimum flow
from storage to meet demand for hydroelectric
power, and need for additional water for fossil
energy development are several reasons resource
managers must emphasize this limited but valuable
habitat type. Because of multiple demand for
existing water supporting riparian zones, it is
imperative resource managers know how to reclaim
degraded streams and best manage created or
existing wetland zones to meet future needs.
During the 1970's impacts to riparian zones and
streams by multiple users were documented.
During the 1980's, we should address how to
perpetuate existing resources, improve degraded
streams and riparian zones and develop best
management strategies to mitigate present and
future environmental impacts.
riparian research programs.
effort are:
Goals for this
1) Store water for prolonged release downstream and increase vegetation yield, 2) Control
nonpoint source pollution, 3) Develop strategies
for reclaiming degraded streams and riparian
zones, and 4) Advance the state-of-art for
management of range ecosystems.
The example illustrated for this paper is
"Reclamation of a Cold Desert Steppe Stream
Using Instream Flow Structures, Vegetati9n, and
Beaver." Examples of pertinent questions to be
answered from this research are:
4.
Geologic variability and geomorphological
characteristics of drainage patterns can help
predict water storage capacity for streams being
reclaimed for riparian zone values. Geologic
characteristics of streams provide historical
background for criteria needed to plan actions to
answer water resource questions associated with
drainage basins. Planners have to make decisions
which meet economic and legal constraints when
degraded streams are reclaimed for water storage
and improved riparian and aquatic habitat. Geomorphology of streams should be used to select
best sites for reclajming a cold desert steppe
stream. Geomorphological criteria can be used to
select sites in any drainage basin or along a
stream draining one basin. For example, valley
cross-section profile of recent and ancient geologic alluvium provides information on surface
and ground water storage potential. Surface
profile may be conducive to large area flooding
above and below ground but if ancient alluvium
deposits are not aquifers then water storage will
be confined to new alluvium. The difference
between the alluviu11f types would predict basin
storage of water after riparian zone improvement
practices.
5.
Reclamation of degraded streams and riparian
zones to store water can increa3e forage and
species diversity of plants and animals. Food
products for increased human populations is an
ever-increasing world-wide problem. It will be
even more important in the future to maintain
riparian zones in a condition promoting maximum
water storage and forage production. Forage
should be distributed in herbaceous, shrub, and
tree life forms. Planned plant diversity will
provide habitat for wildlife and livestock
grazing, maintain stream channel stability and
promote aquatic habitat for fish. All provide
food for future needs and through innovative
management, maximizes use of land and water
resources.
1.
How does water storage differ between
degraded, natural, and improved riparian
zones of a high desert steppe stream?
2.
Do different stream reaches have different
water storage capabilities along an
improved cold desert steppe stream?
3.
Do improved riparian zones change a flow
regime and, if so, is there a prolonged
release of water for downstream users?
4.
What are the hydrologic responses associated with riparian zone improvement
practices of a cold desert steppe stream
such as: damming by beaver and instream
flow structures, willow and grass establishment, brush control (burning, spraying)
and fertilization?
5.
Can riparian zone improvement practices
initiated on cold desert steppe streams
reduce nonpoint source pollution downstream?
6.
What mechanisms do improved riparian zones
of a cold desert steppe stream provide for
control and abatement of nonpoint source
pollution?
7.
What are the hydrologic responses associated with grazing of improved riparian
zones of a cold desert steppe stream by
livestock and wildlife?
8.
What are the economic costs and benefits of
improving degraded riparian zones of a cold
desert steppe stream?
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