Uncertain Waters: A Plains Perspective on River Restoration
Tim Keane, PhD
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
Restoration of rivers in the Great Plains region has been piecemeal at best, with most efforts aimed at streambank stabilization rather than restoration of stable hydro-ecological function. The majority of our rivers have been channelized, straightened, and caused to degrade so that the former floodplain might be employed in the production of grain and livestock. Many Plains rivers are now “controlled” for flood protection. As channel succession progresses, we see accelerated bank erosion as rivers attempt to regain length and sinuosity. Such erosion now threatens valuable crop and grazing land and the resultant sediment is rapidly filling of our reservoirs. Nutrient runoff from the agricultural lands of the region lead to a host of problems, ranging from groundwater pollution to the so-called “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. These impacts have been and will continue to be the primary drivers of streambank stabilization in the Plains.
Many climate change models are predicting “unprecedented” drought risk for the Central Plains in the remaining 80 years of this century. The future of river works in the Great Plains must acknowledge and plan for such risk. Thus, the major drivers of future works in the Great Plains will be water availability and conservation.
This presentation will briefly address the history of restoration efforts in the Great Plains, past and current drivers of such efforts, and future perspectives. The Great Plains has always been a region of uncertain waters, it appears we must plan for this uncertainty to become greater. Innovations will be necessary if we are to “weather” the coming decades.
About Tim Keane, PhD:
Tim Keane has served at Kansas State University since 1984, teaching in landscape architecture and in the APDesign interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program. Keane has received multiple teaching awards, three Jarvis Endowed Chair positions, the 2009 USDA-CSREES Partnership Award for Mission Integration, the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture’s (CELA) “Excellence in Research and/or Creative Work Award, the KSU Professorial Performance Award, and was the college’s first member to be awarded “Distinguished Graduate Faculty” status at Kansas State University.
Keane's research deals with stream morphology and process, as well as urban stormwater management. His work has helped bring more than $4.1 million in research funding to Kansas State. Keane was the first Jarvis Scholar of Landscape Architecture at Kansas State University (a two-year, competitive, endowed research chair). He has more than twenty peer-reviewed publication. Keane also has developed a series of natural systems and fluvial systems courses that provide a depth and breadth of material unusual to landscape architecture programs.
Keane holds a bachelor of science in landscape architecture from Iowa State University, and a master's and doctorate, in landscape architecture, from the University of Michigan. Dr. Keane has received extensive professional training and field-based, practice experience from, and continues to work with the top fluvial geomorphologists and hydraulic engineers in the country.