Watershed Restoration: The Rest of the Story - Bringing Land Use and Upper Watershed Processes into Focus

 

Archived video of the Zoom webinar.

Land use regulations, non-point source pollution control, as well as "watershed and fish habitat restoration" efforts have disproportionately focused on the impaired water body with much less focus on the influences of uplands and upper watershed processes. Nonpoint pollution impaired waterbodies are a function of the condition of and services provided by the upper watershed. In the case of rural watersheds in northwest Washington, commercial forestry typically dominates. If these activities are compliant with federal, state, and local environmental regulations, there is a broad assumption made that these and other land uses have no impact on water quality or quantity. This assumption without objective analysis may lead to sustained nonpoint source pollution, changes to the hydrograph that relate to water supply, and further degradation of fish habitat creating a more severe cumulative impact when combined with continued climate change. This talk will address these issues and summarize the novel work that the Nooksack Indian Tribe and collaborators have implemented in factoring in upper watershed processes and land use in overall watershed restoration practices in the Nooksack River watershed.

 

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About the Speaker

Oliver Grah
Oliver Grah

Oliver Grah, Project Manager/Administrator, Principal Investigator, Water Resources Program Manager, Nooksack Indian Tribe (11 years). BS – geology and botany, MS – watershed science. Oliver has over 45 years of professional experience in the fields of water resources, fluvio-geomorphology, soils, physical habitat, floodplains, wetlands, environmental restoration, environmental project management, IDT leader and coordination on over 600 projects including SEPA, NEPA, CWA, FSA, Shorelines/CAO, and ESA compliance and monitoring. Oliver is a Certified Professional Wetlands Scientist (#000556). Oliver has developed a comprehensive climate change project that ranges from glacier monitoring and modeling on Mt. Baker, temperature, sediment, and turbidity monitoring and modeling in the tributaries and streams of the Nooksack River watershed, assessing impacts of climate change on the hydrologic system of the Nooksack River and salmon habitat, and developing a comprehensive watershed conservation plan that addresses the cumulative impact of legacy impacts and climate change impacts, vulnerability assessment, and adaptation plan focus on salmon survival and habitat restoration.

Environmental Speaker Series

The Environmental Speaker Series is hosted by the College of the Environment at Western Washington University.

The Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30 pm in Academic Instructional Center West room 204 - AW-204. Talks will also be streamed via zoom. Register with the Alumni Association for the zoom link. Paid parking is available in lot C.

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