Description:
As little is known about the hydrology of the wetlands in the Upper Columbia River Valley, prioritization of wetland restoration is a challenge, but is an important first step. The Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners (CWSP) have developed a simple restoration feasibility index to help score wetlands based on their likelihood of long-term restoration success, using publicly available data to develop an approach that can be adapted for other areas. Geospatial analyses were used to calculate watershed-scale measures from digital elevation models (DEMs). Additionally, measures for how dry a region might be, taken from climate data to simulate precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P-ET) were used. In total a flow accumulation index, a wetness index and a P-ET index were combined to provide the restoration feasibility index, which ranks wetlands as having low, moderate, high, or very high potential to be successfully restored. The index was verified against field data during the summer of 2025 and was updated to improve its predictive powers.

Keywords: wetlands; beaver; hydrology; climate change; restoration

Authors:

Organization: Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners

Category: Hydrologically Vulnerable Wetlands

Focal Area: Columbia Wetlands

Resource Type: Report

Year: 2026