Hydrography Seminar Series, Seminar 5 (Lightning Talk 1) - November, 2015

Abstract - To protect and preserve water quality in the McKenzie Watershed, the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) has developed a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Voluntary Incentives Program (VIP). The program is designed to preserve high-quality riparian vegetation in the McKenzie Watershed by remunerating landowners for keeping such vegetation stands intact. One important consideration in the construction of such a program is the Program Area. The Program Area defines those lands that can be considered for inclusion and enrollment in the VIP. In order to create a program area that is accepted by program participants and funders, the delineation method should be:

1. Science-based
2. Easily explained to a lay audience
3. Repeatable in other watersheds
4. Useful for program analysis and evaluation.

In developing a program area for the VIP, we have examined two different geo-spatial models for delineating the riparian area based on geomorphic characteristics. After examining two models, we decided to use the Active River Area Model developed by The Nature Conservancy (Smith et al., 2008). This presentation briefly covers model implementation and considerations in defining the program eligibility boundary.

Biography – David Richey (BA, Biology, Oberlin College; BLA, MLA, University of Oregon) and is a Senior GIS Analyst at the Lane Council of Governments in Eugene, Oregon. He has practiced spatial data analysis for 20 years with a research and professional focus on agricultural and riparian landscapes. His current work focuses on the McKenzie Voluntary Incentives Program, a payment for ecosystem services project protecting and restoring riparian vegetation, for the Eugene Water and Electric Board.