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| Kings Spring Drainage in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge |
Nye County, Nevada |
Primary Project Type: Instream Restoration
Secondary Type: Riparian Restoration |
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Restoration work was completed on the Kings Spring drainage located at Point of ... |
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Primary Problem: Loss of Fish Habitat
Secondary Problem: Change in Land Use |
| Main Restoration Action(s): Channel reconstruction |
| Native Fish Focus: Endemic dace, Endemic pupfish |
Is this project part of a watershed scale restoration? Yes
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| Project Dates: 1999 to 2001 |
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Initial Monitoring: 1990
Restoration Implementation: 1998
Follow-up Monitoring: Ongoing |
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Lead Agency:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Nature Conservancy
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| Project Partners: |
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Design and Project Implementation: Otis Bay Inc.
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| Project Location:
Restoration work was completed on the Kings Spring drainage located at Point of Rocks in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge lies on the southwestern edge of Nevada in Nye County, just east of Death Valley, California. The refuge is the largest oasis within the Mojave Desert with its primary water sources from 24 thermal springs within a 4.4-mile radius. Click here for a map of the project area (172 kb PDF).
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Project Description:
The following was taken from Restoration of the Kings Spring Drainage in Ash meadows, NV by The nature Conservancy of NV. 1997
Kings Spring is a thermal spring, part of an extensive wetland system within Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. These springs support more than 24 endemic plants and animals—believed to be the largest concentration of endemic species in the United States. Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is inhabited by six endangered and eight threatened species, the majority of which are also endemic to the area. In addition, the refuge supports numerous organisms that are characteristic of desert riparian habitats of the American southwest. Therefore, it is of extraordinary value to biodiversity and to the preservation of unique habitats.
Most of the disturbance to the spring was done in the late 1960s and early 1970s when land developers converted a large portion of the Kings Spring drainage for agricultural uses and the pools at the Point of Rocks springs, including Kings Spring, were artificially expanded for aesthetic reasons. The outflow of Kings Spring was diverted from its original channel to a concrete ditch for crop irrigation, and the original channel consequently dried up. To convert the land to an agricultural field, riparian vegetation was removed, the floodplain was leveled, and an eight-foot tall berm was constructed to protect the agricultural field from being flooded by runoff from three ephemeral washes. The washes, once vital to delivery of gravels and nutrients, as well as flushing the Kings Spring channel during spring storm events, were effectively cut off from the channel. After the agricultural field was abandoned in the early 1980s, the concrete ditch draining Kings Spring began to leak water, which drained into an ancestral channel below the agricultural field. As a result of these flows, this ancestral drainage developed a narrow riparian corridor with an expansive cattail marsh and weed-infested saturated soil, whereas the ditch, which previously drained Kings Spring water, dried up.
Agricultural activities also greatly affected the riparian ecosystem associated with the pool and channel. The excavations of Kings Pool left its originally steep banks gradual on one side. As a consequence, the alterations created conditions to form an extensive cattail-stand (Typha domingensis) just downstream of the pool. Large tracts of riparian vegetation dominated by Mesquite (Prosopis spp.), which supported a complex understory of native plants, were lost to channel re-alignment and cropland. As the concrete ditch containing the Kings Spring outflow began to leak, part of the system reverted to a wetland community dominated by cattail and other herbaceous wetland plants.
While much of the original ecosystem had been drastically altered, Kings Spring continued to support the endangered, endemic Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes). However, the endangered speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis), which was historically found in spring channels such as the Kings Spring outflow, suffered substantial population losses and were extirpated, most likely due to the channel diversions into concrete ditches. In response to changes in habitat, the non-native mosquitofish, sailfin molly, and red swamp crayfish thrived within the spring and outcompeted or predated on native organisms. |
| Project Goals: The goals of the restoration project were to revert the Kings Spring system (Kings Pool, its outflow, Kings Spring channel and its connection with ephemeral washes) to its pre-disturbance functions and components. The project was divided into 3 general goals: (1) To return the Kings Spring outflow and drainage channel to a meandering stream in order to allow aquatic and riparian communities, which were historically associated with the channel, to re-colonize; (2) To return Kings Pool to its historic size and shape in order to re-establish its original setting and vegetation, and to preserve habitat for pupfish; and (3) To reconnect three ephemeral washes, which were disconnected from the drainage, in order to restore the hydrologic regimes of the historic Kings Spring drainage. |
Project Methods:
In coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey–Biological Resources Discipline, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife, Otis Bay Inc. developed designs for the Kings Spring pool, Kings Spring channel, and Kings Spring outflow, as well as plans for reconnecting the ephemeral washes and revegetation procedures using detailed analysis of topography, geomorphology, geology, and hydrology.
Kings Pool: Reshaping Kings Pool required a reduction to the size of its original perimeter, an increase in the slope of its bank, and the armoring of the bank with slabs of caliche rock, in order to limit re-establishment of cattail.
Kings Spring channel: Outflow of Kings Spring was removed from the concrete ditch and reverted to a channel designed to resemble the historic Kings Spring channel in alignment, shape, size, meander patterns, channel bed, and adjacent riparian vegetation. A combination of methods was used to determine the channel shape, specifically (1) established empirical relationships of channel geometry, (2) channel geometry and patterns derived from a similar stream system, and (3) adjustments in channel geometry and substrate to favor habitat requirements of the Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish and Ash Meadows speckled dace. To view a map of Kings Spring pool prior to, and following restoration click here (108 kb PDF).
Reconnecting Ephemeral Washes: Three ephemeral washes, which were historically part of the Kings Spring watershed, were reconnected to the Kings Spring channel by removing the berm that blocked their access and regrading the washes to their original slope.
Vegetative Reclamation: A mesquite-ash dominated system was re-established by placing excavated topsoil, then transplanting and seeding native vegetation along the stream banks and floodplain. Nursery-grown trees and shrubs were also planted in the floodplain.
Click here for more information on project methods.
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Kings Spring is a thermal spring, part of an extensive wetland system within Ash... |
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Outflow of Kings Spring was removed from a concrete ditch installed for agricult... |
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| Monitoring Data and Collection
Methods: Prior to restoration, a study was conducted within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge by the U.S. Geological Survey investigating lotic habitat favored by native Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish and Ash Meadows specked dace. This habitat within the Kings Spring drainage was less than 6.2 miles, which included concrete and earthen-lined irrigation ditches. To understand habitat preference of the Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish and Ash Meadows speckled dace over non-native sailfin molly and mosquitofish, species composition within the Kings Spring outflow was monitored prior to restoration.
Click here for more information on monitoring.
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| Was this project effective
and how was this determined? Proactive restoration efforts in Kings Spring drainage of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge has promoted control of non-native fish populations and a swift return of native fish populations to desirable levels. Understanding habitat preferences of native versus non-native fish within the refuge allowed a sound restoration design that promoted native fish over non-native fish. The sailfin molly and mosquitofish, typical invaders of thermal springs of the American Southwest, prefer lentic conditions. The restored channel configuration of Kings Spring drainage included maintaining the spring’s elevated temperature and establishing a conversion of Kings Spring Pool outflow from marsh to warm water lotic habitat. This made a significant shift in species composition of the channel. Prior to restoration, native fish were only 23 percent of the total fish population. Five years following restoration, native fish were 91 percent of the total population. This percentage is expected to increase once the marshy habitat downstream of the project area is restored.
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| Confounding Effects/Additional
Information: |
| Project
Specs (all specs are estimates): |
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Man Hours:
1360 hours
Cost of Materials:
$5,000
Subcontracted Costs:
$54,000 (equipment costs), $6,000 (project design)
Overall Estimated Cost:
$65,000
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| For more information on this project
contact: |
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Sharon McKelvey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Email: sharon_mckelvey@fws.gov
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| This information
was collected by: Kathie Taylor, Otis Bay Inc. and Kristin Keith |
| Project last updated on: 7/5/2007 |
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