Site Assessments to Inform Restoration Design and Planning - A Case Study at Arlington Wildlife Area In-Lieu Fee Mitigation Site in Arizona
Monisha Banerjee1*, Todd Caplan2, Mike Milczarek3, Shawn Lowrey4, Angela Stingelin5, Charles Hofer6, Justin Ladd7
1 GeoSystems Analysis, Inc. Tucson, AZ, USA; monisha@gsanalysis.com
2 GeoSystems Analysis, Inc. Albuquerque, NM, USA; todd@gsanalysis.com
3 GeoSystems Analysis, Inc. Albuquerque, NM, USA; mike@gsanalysis.com
4 Arizona Game and Fish Department, Tucson, AZ, USA; SLowery@azgfd.gov
5 Arizona Game and Fish Department, Tucson, AZ, USA; AStingelin@azgfd.gov
6 Arizona Game and Fish Department, Tucson, AZ, USA; CHofer@azgfd.gov
7 Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ, USA; JLadd@azgfd.gov
One of the first steps in any restoration project should be to assess the proposed site in order to set realistic restoration goals. Restoration planning is often an iterative process, where site assessment results lead to changes in the restoration goals and/or designs. In the arid and semi-arid southwest, soil and groundwater conditions are two key components that should be characterized prior to riparian habitat restoration. A case study at Arlington Wildlife Area (AWA) will be presented that illustrates how the site assessment informed restoration planning.
Arizona Game and Fish Department plans to revegetate approximately 200 acres of land along the Gila River at the AWA. An original restoration goal was to restore native cottonwood-willow riparian habitat to support diverse assemblages of avian species. In support of that goal, a review of existing data and a field-based site assessment were conducted to characterize soil and groundwater conditions across the site. The results of the site assessment indicated that the original restoration design was not suitable for most of the site given the actual site conditions due to deep groundwater and saline soils. Restoration plans were changed to establish mostly mesquite bosque and/ or xeric riparian habitat with defined irrigation and salt management plans. The site assessment was critical to determining plant material suitable for site conditions and guided site management by providing irrigation leaching requirements to achieve favorable soil salinity for native vegetation, while still meeting the restoration goal of providing avian species habitat.