River-Lab

Actively incising Lower Tassajara Creek in Dublin, California, was restored as acompound channel in 1999-2000 to mitigate incision and provide flood conveyancecapacity to reduce flood risk to an adjacent greenfield residential development. Thecompound channel design incorporated wide floodplain terraces, planted with nativeriparian and upland vegetation. Prior geomorphological and ecological studies conductedin the first decade after the restoration project suggested that the project hadsuccessfully halted channel incision and that riparian vegetation was developing. I builtupon the last vegetation study in 2008, recreating the photo monitoring points andresurveying the established vegetation transects for the Tassajara Creek project’snorthern reach. I also used remote sensing to quantify changes in vegetation cover overthe last decade, finding a 63% increase in vegetation cover. Both field and remote sensinganalyses indicated continued tree canopy growth and maturation of the riparianecosystem in this restored urban stream.