Aylward, McCoy, and Pilz Consulting LLC, PO Box 1892, Beaverton, OR, 97075, USA.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, 421 SW 6th Ave, Suite 950, Portland, OR, 97204, USA.
Environ Manage. 2018 Mar;61(3):506-519. doi: 10.1007/s00267-017-0926-0. Epub 2017 Aug 30.
Securing environmental flows in support of freshwater biodiversity is an evolving field of practice. An example of a large-scale program dedicated to restoring environmental flows is the Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, which has been restoring flows in dewatered tributary habitats for imperiled salmon species over the past decade. This paper discusses a four-tiered flow restoration accounting framework for tracking the implementation and impacts of water transactions as an effective tool for adaptive management. The flow restoration accounting framework provides compliance and flow accounting information to monitor transaction efficacy. We review the implementation of the flow restoration accounting framework monitoring framework to demonstrate (a) the extent of water transactions that have been implemented over the past decade, (b) the volumes of restored flow in meeting flow targets for restoring habitat for anadromous fish species, and (c) an example of aquatic habitat enhancement that resulted from Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program investments. Project results show that from 2002 to 2015, the Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program has completed more than 450 water rights transactions, restoring approximately 1.59 million megaliters to date, with an additional 10.98 million megaliters of flow protected for use over the next 100 years. This has resulted in the watering of over 2414 stream kilometers within the Columbia Basin. We conclude with a discussion of the insights gained through the implementation of the flow restoration accounting framework. Understanding the approach and efficacy of a monitoring framework applied across a large river basin can be informative to emerging flow-restoration and adaptive management efforts in areas of conservation concern.
保障支持淡水生物多样性的环境水流是一个不断发展的实践领域。一个致力于恢复环境水流的大规模项目的例子是北美的北美太平洋西北地区的哥伦比亚盆地水交易计划，该计划在过去十年中一直在恢复缺水支流栖息地的水流，以拯救濒危的鲑鱼物种。本文讨论了一个四级水流恢复核算框架，用于跟踪水交易的实施和影响，作为适应性管理的有效工具。水流恢复核算框架为监测交易效果提供了合规和水流核算信息。我们审查了水流恢复核算框架监测框架的实施情况，以展示：(a) 在过去十年中实施的水交易的程度；(b) 为恢复洄游鱼类栖息地而达到水流目标的恢复水量；以及 (c) 哥伦比亚盆地水交易计划投资所带来的水生栖息地改善的一个例子。项目结果表明，自 2002 年至 2015 年，哥伦比亚盆地水交易计划已经完成了超过 450 项水权交易，迄今为止已恢复了约 1590 万立方米的水流，另外还有 1098 万立方米的水流在未来 100 年内受到保护以供使用。这导致哥伦比亚盆地内有超过 2414 公里的溪流得到了灌溉。我们最后讨论了通过实施水流恢复核算框架获得的见解。了解在一个大流域内应用的监测框架的方法和效果，可以为保护关注地区新兴的水流恢复和适应性管理工作提供信息。
