ELOHA News Winter 2015
Practitioner updates on the Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration,
a scientific framework for determining and applying environmental flows at large regional scales
12 January 2015 – Final Issue*
1. January 20 deadline for early-bird registration for Flow2015
The Instream Flow Council is hosting Flow2015: Protecting Rivers and Lakes in the Face of Uncertainty in Portland, Oregon on April 28-30, 2015. Through training, discussions, work sessions, and presentations, participants will learn strategies that integrate law, policy, and science to manage uncertainty in a range of biological, institutional, hydrologic, and geographic settings. Confirmed speakers include ELOHA experts Angela Arthington, Brian Richter, Jonathan Kennen, and Stuart Orr.
2. Connecticut adopts first streamflow classifications for ELOHA implementation
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection adopted its first set of stream classifications under its new, ELOHA-based streamflow standards and regulations. Unlike river types based on physical and biological attributes, these ecological goal classes are based on socio-political considerations and determine which of four management goals applies to each stream or river segment in this densely populated, highly industrialized state. This is the latest chapter in the Connecticut case study profiled on the ELOHA Toolbox website.
3. Massachusetts completes major regulatory reform to protect environmental flows
Nearly five years of comprehensive stakeholder review and input from public water suppliers, municipal officials, business interests and environmental organizations culminated in November with the implementation of Massachusetts’ new, ELOHA-based Sustainable Water Management Initiative (SWMI)linking groundwater withdrawals to flow-ecology responses. This is the latest chapter in the Massachusetts case study profiled on the ELOHA Toolbox website.
4. Special journal issue dedicated to environmental flows
Hydrological Sciences Journal published a special Issue, Hydrological Sciences for Environmental Flows. Edited by Professor Mike Acreman of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the 34 articles cover a range of science, technical, socio-economic, institutional, policy, and governance topics related to managed rivers; ag and urban landscapes; trans-boundary settings; wetland, estuarine, and groundwater systems; methods, tools, and models; climate change; and case studies from around the world.
5. International Joint Commission advocates restoring natural flow regimes
In June, the IJC formally recommended Plan 2014 for managing water levels and flows that contribute to the economic and social well-being of the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River basin, improve the long-term ecological health of the lake and upper river, and help manage future changes. IJC was created in 1909 to prevent and resolve disputes between Canada and the United States under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty. Both of the two governments must agree to this plan for it to be implemented.
6. U.S. Gulf Coast Prairie ELOHA resource project completed
The GCP Instream Flow Resource Project supports scientifically credible environmental flow standards and management practices in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. It includes 27 flow-ecology relationships for a holistic suite of fish, mussels, birds and riparian vegetation that respond to different types of flow alteration and represent the range, needs, demands and uses of rivers. It also includes fish sampling data obtained from various sources and consistently entered into the nationwide Multi-state Aquatic Resources Information System (MARIS) database; a River Classification Framework; a flow alteration assessment; and more. Associated maps and data are available on the GCP Conservation Planning Atlas and will be updated periodically. For more information, contact Mary Davis.
7. New publications
Campbell CJ, Johns CV, Nielsen DL. 2014. The value of plant functional groups in demonstrating and communicating vegetation responses to environmental flows. Freshwater Biology doi:10.1111/fwb.12309.
Davies PM, Naiman RJ, Warfe DM, Pettit NE, Arthington AH, Bunn SE. 2014. Flow–ecology relationships: closing the loop on effective environmental flows. Marine and Freshwater Research 65: 133-141 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF13110.htm
Jackson S, Finn M, Scheepers K. 2014. The use of replacement cost method to assess and manage the impacts of water resource development on Australian indigenous customary economies. Journal of Environmental Management 135: 100-109 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.018
Mackay SJ, Arthington AH, James CS. 2014. Classification and comparison of natural and altered flow regimes to support an Australian trial of the Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration framework. Ecohydrology DOI: 10.1002/eco.1473.
Olden JD, et al. 2014. Are large-scale flow experiments informing the science and management of freshwater ecosystems? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environmentdoi:10.1890/130076
Rolls RJ, Arthington AH. 2014. How do low magnitudes of hydrologic alteration impact riverine fish populations and assemblage characteristics? Ecological Indicators 39: 179-188 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X1300513X.
Share your resources with the entire ELOHA community. Case studies, references, links, and text additions all are welcome. We especially encourage postings on environmental flow policy advances from outside the United States. Send your contributions to Eloise Kendy. The site is usefully organized according to the main steps of ELOHA, with cited references linked to a comprehensive bibliography. Case studies from around the world are being tracked, with your help. Thank you to all contributors, past and future.
* This will be the last ELOHA News that I will distribute. In 2007, I started this newsletter to inform and encourage fellow ELOHA practitioners around the world. We knew there was a need for regionalized environmental flow management. Now, thanks to the pioneering efforts we have highlighted over the years, there is an ever-increasing demand for ELOHA and a cadre of well-versed, interdisciplinary practitioners to meet that demand in ever more creative ways. If your organization is interested in taking on ELOHA News compilation and distribution, just let me know and I’d be delighted to pass the baton. The Nature Conservancy will continue to maintain the ELOHA Toolbox website, including archived ELOHA News.
ELOHA!
Eloise
Eloise Kendy, Ph.D., Senior Freshwater Scientist,
The Nature Conservancy, North America
skype eloise.kendy | nature.org/H2O
