Kalamazoo River AOC Dam Removal Geomorphic/Habitat Assessments – Reference Reach Identification
The Kalamazoo River Area of Concern (AOC) has multiple dams in various stages of removal, at which restoration work will be completed in the coming years. Hydrogeomorphic data from relatively undisturbed river reaches are commonly used to inform the design parameters of river restoration projects. Reference reaches are selected to have similar prevailing boundary conditions as target restoration reaches, including water and sediment regime, valley and channel slope, valley confinement, bank heights, and riparian vegetation. This collaborative project encompasses USGS activities to identify and characterize geomorphic reference reaches for the Kalamazoo AOC, providing data to ensure that restoration projects support stakeholders’ priorities for hydrologic connectivity, channel stability, and fish passage within the river system.
The objective of this project is to develop a publicly available reference reach database or “library” composed of data from multiple river reaches that are representative of relatively natural conditions within the AOC, with minimal influence from impoundments or dam-related sedimentation. The reference reaches encompass a range of geomorphic settings, including single- and multi-thread channels, laterally confined (minimal floodplain) and unconfined (extensive floodplain) reaches, and a range of valley and channel slopes. The library will contain information appropriate for informing restoration work associated with the planned and previous dam removals along the Kalamazoo River from Plainwell to Allegan, Michigan (Fig. 1A). This work is being completed in several phases, with each phase adding data from additional reaches.
The reference reach selected for the Phase I of the study (October 2021 – December 2022) was an approximately 500m segment located upstream of Plainwell Dam #2 (Fig. 1C). The reach was located in a region of relatively consistent valley slope of 0.06% (Fig. 2), had tree lined banks about 0.5m high, several gravel riffles, and large woody debris frequent along channel margins. USGS collected terrestrial lidar topographic (elevation) and bathymetric (shape of underwater terrain) data, which were combined with aerial lidar data to develop a digital elevation model (DEM) that covered the bed, banks, and floodplains of the river (Fig. 3). Additionally, substrate size data were collected, including a reach-composite pebble count and a representative riffle pebble count.
Phase II of the study (January – December 2023) comprised the characterization of four reaches along the 15km river segment between Trowbridge Dam and Allegan City, MI (Fig. 4). The reaches spanned a gradient of valley slopes ranging from 0.01% to 0.05%, with reach-average slopes ranging from 0.01% to 0.08%. Existing topographic and bathymetric data (Quantum Spatial, 2017) were available to characterize channel and floodplain morphology. USGS collected substrate data in reaches 1, 2 and 3.
For all reference reaches, the DEMs were used to characterize the river morphology and hydraulic geometry. Analyses included longitudinal profiles of the channel bed, banks, and water surface (Fig. 4); cross-section profiles spanning the river channel and valley bottom (Fig. 5); and mapping of hydrogeomorphic units (e.g., sand and gravel bars, pools, cut banks, and more) using the geomorphon (Jasiewicz & Stepinski, 2013) and geomorphic unit tool (GUT; Bangen et al., 2017) approaches (Fig 6). Researchers calculated bankfull hydraulic geometry attributes, complexity metrics, and floodplain inundation metrics across a range of flow stages at the cross-section profiles. Large woody debris in the channel was mapped from vegetation returns in the terrestrial lidar data.
The project is an ongoing collaboration between the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), the USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center (UMID) and several Michigan state agencies, including the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Future work will include hydrodynamic modeling to better understand inundation dynamics, water velocities, and substrate stability; characterization of additional reference reaches; and continued streamflow monitoring at a stream gage installed for this project (Kalamazoo River Near Allegan, MI – 04107850).
References
Bangen S.G., Kramer N., Wheaton, J.M., & Bouwes N. 2017. The GUTs of the Geomorphic Unit Tool: What is under the hood. EP31D-1901. AGU. New Orleans, LA, 11-15 Dec. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31118.66884
Jasiewicz, J., & Stepinski, T.F.. 2013. Geomorphons — a Pattern Recognition Approach to Classification and Mapping of Landforms. Geomorphology 182: 147–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.11.005.
Quantum Spatial, 2017. 2016 Kalamazoo River, Michigan Area 5 Topobathymetric LiDAR Digital Elevation Model.
Mecklenburg, D., & Ward, A., 2011. Stream modules: Spreadsheet tools for river evaluation, assessment and monitoring. Proceedings of the 2004 Self-Sustaining Solutions for Streams, Wetlands, and Watersheds Conference. https://doi.org/10.1061/41173(414)265
The Kalamazoo River Area of Concern (AOC) has multiple dams in various stages of removal, at which restoration work will be completed in the coming years. Hydrogeomorphic data from relatively undisturbed river reaches are commonly used to inform the design parameters of river restoration projects. Reference reaches are selected to have similar prevailing boundary conditions as target restoration reaches, including water and sediment regime, valley and channel slope, valley confinement, bank heights, and riparian vegetation. This collaborative project encompasses USGS activities to identify and characterize geomorphic reference reaches for the Kalamazoo AOC, providing data to ensure that restoration projects support stakeholders’ priorities for hydrologic connectivity, channel stability, and fish passage within the river system.
The objective of this project is to develop a publicly available reference reach database or “library” composed of data from multiple river reaches that are representative of relatively natural conditions within the AOC, with minimal influence from impoundments or dam-related sedimentation. The reference reaches encompass a range of geomorphic settings, including single- and multi-thread channels, laterally confined (minimal floodplain) and unconfined (extensive floodplain) reaches, and a range of valley and channel slopes. The library will contain information appropriate for informing restoration work associated with the planned and previous dam removals along the Kalamazoo River from Plainwell to Allegan, Michigan (Fig. 1A). This work is being completed in several phases, with each phase adding data from additional reaches.
The reference reach selected for the Phase I of the study (October 2021 – December 2022) was an approximately 500m segment located upstream of Plainwell Dam #2 (Fig. 1C). The reach was located in a region of relatively consistent valley slope of 0.06% (Fig. 2), had tree lined banks about 0.5m high, several gravel riffles, and large woody debris frequent along channel margins. USGS collected terrestrial lidar topographic (elevation) and bathymetric (shape of underwater terrain) data, which were combined with aerial lidar data to develop a digital elevation model (DEM) that covered the bed, banks, and floodplains of the river (Fig. 3). Additionally, substrate size data were collected, including a reach-composite pebble count and a representative riffle pebble count.
Phase II of the study (January – December 2023) comprised the characterization of four reaches along the 15km river segment between Trowbridge Dam and Allegan City, MI (Fig. 4). The reaches spanned a gradient of valley slopes ranging from 0.01% to 0.05%, with reach-average slopes ranging from 0.01% to 0.08%. Existing topographic and bathymetric data (Quantum Spatial, 2017) were available to characterize channel and floodplain morphology. USGS collected substrate data in reaches 1, 2 and 3.
For all reference reaches, the DEMs were used to characterize the river morphology and hydraulic geometry. Analyses included longitudinal profiles of the channel bed, banks, and water surface (Fig. 4); cross-section profiles spanning the river channel and valley bottom (Fig. 5); and mapping of hydrogeomorphic units (e.g., sand and gravel bars, pools, cut banks, and more) using the geomorphon (Jasiewicz & Stepinski, 2013) and geomorphic unit tool (GUT; Bangen et al., 2017) approaches (Fig 6). Researchers calculated bankfull hydraulic geometry attributes, complexity metrics, and floodplain inundation metrics across a range of flow stages at the cross-section profiles. Large woody debris in the channel was mapped from vegetation returns in the terrestrial lidar data.
The project is an ongoing collaboration between the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), the USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center (UMID) and several Michigan state agencies, including the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Future work will include hydrodynamic modeling to better understand inundation dynamics, water velocities, and substrate stability; characterization of additional reference reaches; and continued streamflow monitoring at a stream gage installed for this project (Kalamazoo River Near Allegan, MI – 04107850).
References
Bangen S.G., Kramer N., Wheaton, J.M., & Bouwes N. 2017. The GUTs of the Geomorphic Unit Tool: What is under the hood. EP31D-1901. AGU. New Orleans, LA, 11-15 Dec. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31118.66884
Jasiewicz, J., & Stepinski, T.F.. 2013. Geomorphons — a Pattern Recognition Approach to Classification and Mapping of Landforms. Geomorphology 182: 147–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.11.005.
Quantum Spatial, 2017. 2016 Kalamazoo River, Michigan Area 5 Topobathymetric LiDAR Digital Elevation Model.
Mecklenburg, D., & Ward, A., 2011. Stream modules: Spreadsheet tools for river evaluation, assessment and monitoring. Proceedings of the 2004 Self-Sustaining Solutions for Streams, Wetlands, and Watersheds Conference. https://doi.org/10.1061/41173(414)265