Watershed Analysis, Restoration Planning

 Kier Associates scientists have prepared restoration plans and performed restoration program evaluations for large river basins and small watersheds.  In the process, we have collected watershed and aquatic data for projects that cover more than 30,000 square miles. The Kier team’s experience includes examining relationships between land and water uses and their impacts upon fisheries and water quality.  Kier Associates is proficient in the use of models and has the capability to create and evaluate environmental model applications.

Kier Associates prepared the framework for the State-federal Klamath River Restoration Program, its Long Range Plan, and, some years later provided a detailed evaluation, for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, of the strengths and weaknesses of the 20-year-long program. 

That 1991 Klamath Long Range Plan was a pioneer in taking a watershed-wide approach to fisheries restoration.  The Program’s Mid-Term Evaluation drew upon data from the Klamath Resource Information System (KRIS), created by Kier Associates to assess restoration program progress quantitatively.

Kier Associates. 1991. Long Range Plan for the Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Fishery Restoration Program. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Klamath River Fishery Resource Office.Yreka, CA. 403 p

Kier Associates. 1999. Mid-term evaluation of the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Restoration Program. Sausalito, CA . Prepared for the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force. 303 pp.

Kier Associates provided the Battle Creek Watershed Conservancy two rounds of science support, first, with development of a fisheries restoration plan and then in support of prescribed watershed analysis. Both efforts contributed to a complete watershed information system project using the KRIS database (www.krisweb.com).

KRIS Battle Creek version 2.0 supports a watershed analysis using the U.S. Forest Service’s Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) model. Kier Associates provided spatial data analysis of upland conditions for this Battle Creek project.

Under contract with the Resources Agency of California and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Kier Associates provided technical support to six cooperating State agencies for the four-year North Coast Watershed Assessment Program. 

Kier Associates helped this program with data synthesis, the provision of scientific authority, and completion of KRIS-based information system projects for the Mattole, Gualala, and Big rivers and for Humboldt County’s Redwood Creek (see www.krisweb.com).