Inundation Analysis of Selected Sites in Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument

Riparian habitat is a critical component of American southwest ecology. To successfully maintain the ecological integrity of riparian corridors in National Park Service (NPS) units, managers require science-based information quantifying the status and trends of natural resources within riparian areas. This information provides a basis for managers to develop conservation strategies with external partners whose actions impact the ecological integrity of riparian natural resources. As upstream dam operations and water diversions alter the timing and quantity of downstream river flows, park managers specifically require an enhanced understanding of the effect of hydrologic flow on geomorphologic change and vegetation community structure within riparian ecosystems. To contribute to this effort, an exploratory analysis was conducted to integrate hourly water surface elevations (WSE) with digital elevation models (DEMs) at two long-term riparian monitoring locations of the Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Division along the Green River within Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. These scripts were developed to visualize inundation period across monitoring sites and within repeat vegetation monitoring plots.