Middle Rio Grande Bosque Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study Habitat Assessment Using Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP): Analyses, Results and Documentation
Abstract
Over the last century, the Middle Rio Grande was subjected to significant anthropogenic pressures, producing a highly degraded ecosystem that today is poised on the brink of collapse. In 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (Albuquerque District) initiated a feasibility study of the area and began the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA), as required under the tenets of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to evaluate the effects of proposed ecosystem restoration alternatives on the watershed's significant resources. As part of the process, a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary evaluation team was established to formulate alternatives that would address two critical problems: 1) hydrological alterations and 2) bosque (riparian) ecosystem degradation. Between 2005 and 2008, this team designed, calibrated, and applied a community-based index model for the bosque (riparian) ecosystem using standard Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) (USFWS 1980a-c). The 17-mile long study area was divided into five separate reaches; within each reach a series of 44 separate measures were formulated and combined to generate no less than 56 potential alternatives for the study (approximately 8 to 13 alternatives per reach were fully formulated and evaluated). The outputs for these alternatives ranged from 3 to 264 Average Annual Habitat Units (AAHUs). The results of these evaluations are provided herein. The intent of this document is to provide details of the HEP application for the Middle Rio Grande Bosque Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study (MRGBER). Readers interested in the scientific basis upon which the model was developed should refer to the additional report produced for this study (Burks-Copes and Webb 2009).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA566399
Entities
People
- Antisa C. Webb
- Kelly A. Burks-copes
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center