.jpg "Lucy Harrington photo")
Lucy Harrington
Sr. Regulatory Specialist
GEI Consultants
Denver, CO
Brian Topping
Environmental Protection Specialist
US Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC
.jpg "Lindsay Teunis, CERP photo")
Lindsay Teunis, CERP
Principal Restoration Ecologist
SWCA
San Diego, CA
Jeremy Sueltenfuss, PhD
Assistant Professor
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Michelle Mattson
Restoration Ecologist/Compensatory Mitigation SME
USACE Institute for Water Resources
Alexandria, VA
Low elevation rivers in the Western US are notoriously changeable systems. For example, the middle south Platte channel was described by early European settlers as being “a mile wide and an inch deep” during the late summer months and raging torrents impossible to cross during spring runoff. Since then, the Platte and other similar river systems have been constrained to a floodplain many times reduced from their original size to accommodate a variety of anthropogenic uses. During high flow events however, the rivers reclaim their original home range, often reactivating old ox bows and high flow channels while in the process causing millions of dollars in property damage. These effects are further exacerbated by catastrophic wildfires that are an increasing occurrence in the headwaters of western watersheds. To promote the historic functions and values of braided river channels and simultaneously increase flood and wildfire resiliency, restoration and mitigation in western alluvial river systems should focus on floodplain connectivity and “freedom of movement” concepts. This includes building in the flexibility within mitigation performance standards to have variable success criteria that assigns value to restoring the entire floodplain ecosystem. This will encourage mitigation along higher order rivers where many western river impacts occur. A variable performance methodology will also allow for flexibility for riparian forests, wetlands, and stream channels to shift over time in line with natural successional patterns without penalizing mitigation providers. The aim of this variable methodology would be to further promote native flora and fauna that are adapted to these natural fluctuating systems and provide benefit for downstream human communities that will experience increased flood attenuation. This panel will include representatives from consulting, mitigation banking, regulatory, and academia who will discuss the benefits and challenges of variable crediting systems and examine how to accommodate non-static credit formation within the current regulatory framework.
