Strategic Restoration of Large Floodplain Rivers:
What a difference a few feet makes!

Doug Johnston
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Summary

Large floodplain-river ecosystems support a rich array of aquatic and flood-tolerant plants and animals, and their productivity is linked to predictable flood pulses. However, current river and floodplain management disrupts these cycles. This project is developing suite of inter-related, dynamic models of hydrology and ecology of a river/floodplain system and links them to the local economy. The models are used to simulate, test and communicate with stakeholders about alternative restoration strategies related to the general hypothesis that: river hydrology and floodplain lands can be managed in ways that restore ecosystem services while not diminishing the overall economic well-being of the affected region.

Much of the modeling efforts, and examination of hydrologic and ecologic responses to flood-plain hydrology are dependent on representation of floodplain elevations. GIS-based approaches have generally been limited by limitations to available elevation data. This presentation will focus on the development and evaluation of high-resolution data sets and their use in models of moist soil plant habitat, flood-plain forest, and hydraulic modeling of restoration options, including a floodplain district recently purchased by The Nature Conservancy.