GIS in Ecological Restoration: From Wetlands to Watersheds

GIS in Ecological Restoration: From Wetlands to Watersheds

This article examines how geospatial technology contributes to ecological restoration at scales ranging from local wetlands to global environmental systems. While restoration efforts span continents, the focus here centers on the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California — a region where complex watershed dynamics, cultural history, and innovative restoration work intersect.

What Are We Restoring — and Why?

Ecological restoration is not a single objective but a spectrum of goals. Are we protecting functioning ecosystems? Returning landscapes to historical conditions? Or preparing them to withstand anthropogenic pressures, including climate change? Conservation, restoration, and resilience are interconnected strategies rather than mutually exclusive categories.

In practice, restoration may involve safeguarding intact habitats, reestablishing historical hydrology, or redesigning ecosystems to adapt to future environmental shifts. The examples below illustrate how these goals overlap within real-world projects.

A Wetland Reborn in a Single Day

On October 30, 2007, The Nature Conservancy detonated 100 tons of TNT to breach a dike at the Williamson River Delta. For decades, the delta had been drained and converted to farmland, disrupting seasonal flooding cycles and degrading habitat for fish, waterfowl, and native vegetation.

After acquiring the northern portion of the delta, The Nature Conservancy reconnected the floodplain to Agency Lake through a carefully planned blast. This restored the natural rhythm of wetland inundation and drying cycles. Within a few years, native species began to return.

GIS played a central role in the project. Detailed spatial analysis of land ownership, historical land use, vegetation distribution, and hydrologic patterns guided planning and implementation. Without precise geospatial modeling, such a large-scale hydrologic restoration would have been nearly impossible.

Restoration at 0.1 Miles Per Year

In contrast, the rehabilitation of 2.5 miles of Sun Creek required 25 years. Once disconnected from the broader watershed and impaired by invasive brook trout, this tributary represented a fragmented habitat for native bull trout.

Through collaborative efforts led by the National Park Service, along with partners such as Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the stream was reconnected to the Wood River and, by extension, the greater Klamath Basin.

The restoration combined modern lidar surveys, laser transit measurements, and archival field notes from the General Land Office. GPS-supported fieldwork assisted in invasive species removal. Mapping technologies enabled planners to reconstruct historical channel geometry and evaluate habitat connectivity across decades.

Are We in the Anthropocene?

The concept of the Anthropocene suggests that human activity has reshaped Earth’s climate, hydrology, and geology to such an extent that a new geological epoch has emerged. Walking through the Grand Canyon reveals billions of years of geologic formation layered beneath modern infrastructure — roads, railways, tourism facilities — representing only decades of human presence.

Organizations such as Grand Canyon Conservancy and Grand Canyon Trust use both static and interactive maps to document Indigenous stewardship and landscape modification over centuries. These cartographic narratives demonstrate that humans have long shaped ecosystems, though the scale of recent change is unprecedented.

Mapping initiatives by The Breakthrough Institute illustrate Anthropocene drivers — population growth, shipping networks, artificial illumination, and land-use transformation — through global visualizations and cartograms. Even without detailed legends, spatial patterns convey the magnitude of human influence.

People and Plants: A Shared Future

Environmental restoration cannot occur without human participation. Poverty and resource insecurity frequently drive ecological degradation. Sustainable restoration must therefore integrate community well-being.

The Nature Conservancy highlights this integration in its Geospatial Conservation Annual Report, presenting case studies where local engagement and spatial analysis work together. Restoration is not solely a technical endeavor; it is a collaborative social process supported by mapping, data modeling, and shared decision-making.

Restoring the “Upside-Down” Basin

In 1995, two major restoration initiatives unfolded within miles of each other in Oregon: the Williamson Delta and the more complex Wood River Delta Restoration Project. Unlike the privately owned Williamson site, the Wood River Delta involved multiple jurisdictions, including land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and adjacent private, county, and state properties.

The objective was straightforward: increase sinuosity, restore riparian vegetation, improve water temperature, and enhance water quality and availability. Achieving those goals, however, required navigating the hydrologic intricacies of the 10-million-acre Klamath Basin.

Unlike mountain-fed watersheds such as the Columbia or Colorado, much of the Klamath Basin’s water originates in agricultural lands, supplemented by snowmelt and cold freshwater springs. Tributaries converge before descending through California’s mountainous terrain toward the Pacific Ocean.

Historically, the upper basin functioned as a vast seasonal wetland — sometimes called the “Everglades of the West.” Settlement transformed it: wetlands were drained, rivers straightened, and dams constructed. Fish populations essential to Tribal communities declined dramatically.

By the mid-1990s, restoration planners recognized the Wood and Williamson river deltas as key leverage points for improving basin-wide water quality and habitat connectivity. Altering river morphology, even at modest scales, required sophisticated geospatial modeling.

GIS as the Foundation of Modern Restoration

Across explosive wetland reconnections and decades-long stream rehabilitations, GIS and geospatial technologies remain indispensable. From ownership mapping and hydrologic modeling to habitat connectivity analysis and multi-stakeholder coordination, spatial data informs every phase of ecological restoration.

Whether addressing local wetlands or contemplating planetary-scale change in the Anthropocene, the intersection of people, plants, and geospatial science defines the future of restoration.