A Case Study for Assessing and Prioritizing Multi-objective Floodplain Restoration Opportunities on the Lower Wabash River using the EcoFIP Methodology

Abstract Submission: The Wabash River is the longest free-flowing river in the eastern United States and hosts high levels of biodiversity with 75 mussel species and 151 species of fish, yet it is one of the largest contributors of nutrient pollution to the Gulf of Mexico within the Mississippi River Basin. A comprehensive watershed plan was developed to prioritize and implement environmental actions that are intended to enhance the Lower Wabash River ecosystem and reduce pollutant loads to downstream waterbodies. A focus of this effort includes a detailed study of the lower 200 miles of the Wabash River to identify, prioritize and design multi-objective floodplain restoration projects that reconnect and enhance floodplain habitat, reduce pollution loads through nutrient processing, and provide flood-risk reduction and other related ecosystem services. This study was facilitated using the Ecological Floodplain Inundation Potential (EcoFIP) methodology/toolbox. EcoFIP leverages topographic data, hydrology, hydraulic modeling, soil characteristics, land use and groundwater data to quantify and compare ecosystem benefits resulting from reach- and site-scale restoration projects (e.g., floodplain lowering, levee setbacks, reforestation). EcoFIP was used to efficiently quantify ecological characteristics for specific areas of interest over historical flow regimes. Restoration effects were reported in metrics such as acre-days of inundated floodplain area, acre-days of suitable floodplain habitat (e.g., for migratory waterfowl, riparian vegetation recruitment, etc.), and summarized over a range of water years.

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