Effectiveness Monitoring for Lower Columbia River Restoration Projects

Although restoration actions throughout the lower Columbia River basin are expanding and approaches towards restoration continue to evolve, effectiveness monitoring of restoration projects is often poorly addressed.  Generally, there are few mechanisms available through funding entities that will support an adequate level of monitoring in addition to restoration project design and implementation actions.  As a result, many restoration practitioners frequently rely upon opportunistic data collection to validate the allocation of resources.  This method of analysis often produces conclusions based on random, nonsystematic data that is not scientifically valid.  To address this concern within the lower Columbia River estuary, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a set of monitoring protocols (Roegner et al. 2008) for wetland restoration projects.  This presentation discusses the how these effectiveness monitoring protocols have been utilized for two wetland restoration projects currently being monitored by Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) staff.  Preliminary results based on the effectiveness monitoring protocols will be presented along with suggestions as to how the protocols may be improved for future use.  We hope to ultimately contribute towards the development of a more successful restoration program for the lower Columbia River estuary.