Landscape Change in the Napa River Watershed, 18002002: Implications for the Restoration of InStream

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Landscape Change in the Napa River Watershed,
18002002 Implications for the Restoration of
In-Stream, Floodplain, and Valley Floor
HabitatGrossinger, R., Striplen, C., Brewster,
E., San Francisco Estuary Instituteand L.
Collins, Watershed Sciences CALFED Science
ConferenceJanuary 16, 2003
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Project Goals

• a map of the pre-European impact fluvial system
• extent of floodplain
• location of distributary systems, side channels,
  riparian habitat
• ? flood control, stream restoration, fisheries
  recovery
• a map of the pre-European impact distribution and
  abundance of valley floor habitats
• oak savanna
• seasonal wetland/vernal pools
• native grassland
• ? conservation planning (identifying remnants,
  proportional representation, designing corridors
  and mosaics)
• land use history
• spatial extent and duration of grazing, logging,
  ditching, etc.
• ? identify early uses which may have ongoing
  effects
• community-participatory process
• ?acquire needed data
• ?greater shared understanding of how the current
  landscape has evolved and its potential for
  restoration

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Presentation Outline

• 1. Approach
• Partnerships
• Issues of scale
• 2. Methods
• 19th-century Historical Documents
• Early Aerial Photography
• Mapping of Present-day Ecological Remnants
• 3. Preliminary Findings methodological and
  technical
• Pleasures and Pitfalls of Historical Sources
• Discovery of Counter-Intuitive Changes
• Substantial Variation in Historical Landscape
  within a Small Area (? variation in
  present-day geomorphic controls)

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Napa River Watershed Historical Ecology Project
endorsed and/or funded by

• Napa Valley Vintners Association
• Land Trust of Napa County
• Mead Foundation
• Mennen Environmental Foundation
• Napa County Planning Department
• Napa County Resource Conservation District
• SF Bay Region Water Quality Control Board
• California Department of Fish and Game
• Army Corps of Engineers
• CALFED Watershed Program

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Napa River Watershed Historical Ecology Project
Collaborators
Shari Gardner and Chris Malan, Friends of Napa
River local project coordinatorsElise
Brewster, Brewster Design Arts archival
research, historical cartography Mike Champion,
Napa RCD archival researchSarah Pearce, SFEI
fluvial geomorphologyLaurel Collins, Watershed
Sciences fluvial geomorphologyChuck Striplen,
SFEI and UCB pre-European land managementJosh
Collins, SFEI wetlands geomorphologyLester
McKee, SFEI watershed processesJake Ruygt,
Napa County Botanist local plant community
ecologyRobin Grossinger, SFEI historical
ecology/landscape historyThomas Burns, GIS
Mapping and Analysis historical
photogrammetryEric Wittner, SFEI GIS
development
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• 1. Approach
• Partnerships
• Issues of scale
• 2. Methods
• 19th-century Historical Documents
• Early Aerial Photography
• Mapping of Present-day Ecological Remnants
• 3. Preliminary Findings methodological and
  technical
• Pleasures and Pitfalls of Historical Sources
• Discovery of Counter-Intuitive Changes
• Substantial Variation in Historical Landscape
  within a Small Area (? variation in
  present-day geomorphic controls)

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Project Scale and Corresponding Topics
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Napa River Watershed
Sulphur
Soda
Soda
Carneros
San Francisco Bay
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• 1. Approach
• Partnerships
• Issues of scale
• 2. Methods
• 19th-century Historical Documents
• Early Aerial Photography
• Mapping of Present-day Ecological Remnants
• 3. Preliminary Findings methodological and
  technical
• Pleasures and Pitfalls of Historical Sources
• Discovery of Counter-Intuitive Changes
• Substantial Variation in Historical Landscape
  within a Small Area (? variation in
  present-day geomorphic controls)

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• 1. Approach
• Partnerships
• Issues of scale
• 2. Methods
• 19th-century Historical Documents
• Early Aerial Photography
• Mapping of Present-day Ecological Remnants
• 3. Preliminary Findings methodological and
  technical
• Pleasures and Pitfalls of Historical Sources
• Importance of Pre-1940s Data
• Potentials for Misinterpretation
• Substantial Variation in Historical Landscape
  within a Small Area (? variation in
  present-day geomorphic controls)
• Discovery of Counter-Intuitive Changes

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USCS 1860
USCS 1861
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Lower Sulphur Creek
ca. 1940 Aerial photomosaic
1993 Aerial photomosaic
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Products from Napa River Watershed Landscape
Change Studies

• Historical Ecology Component of Napa Watershed
  Exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum -- opens
  January 25
• Napa River Sediment TMDL Baseline Study
  Geomorphic Processes and Habitat Form and
  Function in Soda Creek -- 1 month
• Stewardship Support and Watershed Assessment in
  the Napa River Watershed A CALFED Project
  (Sulphur and Carneros Creeks) -- 6 months
• Napa Valley at the Time of European Contact GIS
  and Report -- 1 year (pending funding)

www.sfei.org