Mending Central Utah's Wet Meadows: Planning and Implementation Using Zeedyk-like Structures

1U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, Utah State Coordinator 

2Terra Sophia LLC, Owner/Operator 

3Utah State University, Research Assistant Professor; Riverscapes Assessment & Monitoring (RAM) Lab, Department of Watershed Sciences 

4Utah State University, GIS Analyst and UAV Pilot Watershed Sciences 

Wet meadows are an important habitat for wildlife such as birds, insects, ungulates, fish and are an important part of grazing lands. These habitats are often degraded throughout the western U.S. due to factors such as drought, grazing (current and legacy), hydrology changes from irrigation and lack of upstream beaver, and human development. In addition to disappearing completely, wet meadows commonly experience erosional impacts including channelization, incision, headcut formation, and reduced sediment input. These processes decrease the inundated area, wetland vegetation, and overall habitat quality.  

Historically, sagebrush restoration has focused on restoration and enhancements of uplands while often overlooking our meadow bottoms. It is our argument that wet meadows are the zipper holding our surrounding uplands together as a functioning ecosystem and must always be addressed. 

To address wet meadow issues, we have been restoring wet meadows in central Utah by building rock dam structures (AKA zeedyk structures) that slow water, capture sediment, and spread flow laterally. These structures have been effective at increasing inundation, drowning out upland vegetation, and creating more suitable habitat for wetland vegetation and wildlife. 

Moreover, wet habitats cover less than 2% of the western landscape while more than 80% are located on private lands, demonstrating the critical importance of working with private landowners.  

To scale up restoration work agencies, NGOs, and other partners need to team up with trusted private business entities who specialize in wet meadow work rather than rely on volunteers as have been done in many instances. 

This talk will discuss working on private lands in Utah with conservation partners from the perspectives of the USFWS Partners Program and Terra Sophia, a private LLC. Topics will include relationship building, landowner goals, project timelines, funding, contracting, implementation, future management, etc.  

Monitoring wet meadow restoration comes with challenges. Firstly, funding support opportunities are more difficult to find than implementation funding. Secondly, finding a project partner with the level of technical expertise needed to monitor highly dynamic wet meadows presents a challenge. 

Despite these difficulties, valuable information can be collected to inform restoration activities and improve monitoring methods. We partnered with Utah State University Department of Watershed Sciences Riverscapes Assessment & Monitoring (RAM) Lab to conduct drone-collected imagery to detect inundation and changes in vegetation type and cover. Their monitoring methods and data will also be presented at this meeting during another talk.