Ric Lopez, Ph'D'

1
GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques for Identifying
Restoration Targets in Watershed Studies

• Ric Lopez, Ph.D.
• U.S. EPA
• National Exposure Research Laboratory
• Environmental Sciences Division
• Landscape Ecology Branch
• Las Vegas, NV

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• USEPA Regional Applied
• Research Effort (RARE)
• USEPA Region 6 partners, Barbara Keeler Dallas,
  TX
• Follow-on to LEBs Tensas River project
• Goals
• Determine risks of surface
• water quality impairment and
• critical habitat loss/damage
• Available RS/GIS data sources
• Landscape metrics or indicators
• Identifying sources of risk
• Can be applied to other areas

U.S. EPA report available in 2003
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Early 1990s National Land Cover Data (NLCD)
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1990s Water Quality Data within National Water
Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Basins
Ozark Plateau
Mississippi Embayment
Conterminous U.S. Coverage
38 NAWQA water quality sampling sites, used to
validate landscape metrics (e.g., forest cover)
as indicators of surface water quality
Began in 1991
Began in 1994
Measured land cover differences among the 25 USGS
8-Digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watersheds
Began in 1997
Not scheduled yet
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Forest metrics as indicators of nutrient and
sediment loading
A B
C
A B C
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Adjacent
Cumulative distance from surface water
30 meters
60 meters
90 meters
120 meters
150 meters
180 meters
210 meters
240 meters
270 meters
300 meters
WQ indicators within riparian zones
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Sub-watershed PERCENT AGRICULTURE as an
indicator of nutrient/sediment loading
Spearman rank correlation of surface water
parameters and
percent agricultural land cover within (8-digit
USGS hydrologic unit
code) watersheds and in riparian zone of
Arkansas' White River Basin.
Correlation (Rho) values are shown, significance
0.0001.
Watershed
Adjacent Percent
Water Quality Parameter mg/l
N
Percent Total
Total Agriculture
Agriculture
dissolved organic carbon
344
0.697
0.651
ammonia diss. org. nitrogen
188
0.510
0.532
total phosphorus
367
0.707
0.682
suspended sediment
424
0.692
0.643
HUC 0 m
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Sub-watershed PERCENT FOREST as an indicator of
nutrient/sediment loading
Spearman rank correlation of surface water
parameters and
percent forest within (8-digit USGS hydrologic
unit code)
watersheds and in riparian zone of Arkansas'
White River Basin.
Correlation (Rho) values are shown, significance
0.0001.
Adjacent
Watershed
Water Quality Parameter mg/l
N
Percent
Percent Forest
Forest
dissolved organic carbon
344
-0.693
-0.693
ammonia diss. org. nitrogen
188
-0.570
-0.569
total phosphorus
367
-0.709
-0.706
suspended sediment
424
-0.692
-0.692
HUC 0 m
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Wetland Habitat Vulnerability

• e.g., Mallard Winter (Foraging) Habitat Model
• Taxa-specific habitat
• suitability (using GAP and National Wetland
  Inventory)
• Patch physical
• structure
• Potential road
• impacts
• Potential human
• population impacts

Unified Wetland Vulnerability Index
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Applying the vulnerable habitat targeting to

• White River NWR
• Cache River NWR
• Bald Knob NWR
• 1. Ecological Restoration
  Planning
• 2. Real Estate Planning
• 3. Site triage for other analyses
• 4. Alternative futures

Unified Wetland Vulnerability Index
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Linkage between water quantity riparian habitat
vulnerability
A Wetland habitat vulnerability under current
hydrologic conditions on the White River
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GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques for Identifying
Restoration Targets in Watershed Studies

• Ric Lopez, Ph.D.
• USEPA
• National Exposure Research Laboratory
• Environmental Sciences Division
• Landscape Ecology Branch
• Las Vegas, NV