Step 1: Implementing BMPs.
 
Opportunities for riparian restoration exist on many streams in Arizona, but due to the complexity and subjectivity of the restoration process, it is essential to first meet the criteria for a “legally restored” riparian area. This can be accomplished by implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) recommended in various state and Federal agency reports affecting the restoration site, in my case Nutrioso Creek on the EC Bar Ranch.
 
To be classified as “legally restored”, a riparian area must be a specific stream reach in which all applicable criteria addressing specific resource issues regarding, for example: water quality concerns, wildlife habitat values, goals related to vegetation, and specific fish habitat,have been successfully implemented, and where no specifically identified resource problems remain. Examples of State and Federal agency reports that may apply to a specific riparian area are as follows:

1. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Report written by a State Environmental Department (Arizona Department of Environmental Quality) and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These restoration requirements are regulatory, not optional. The origin of this requirement is the Clean Water Act, enforced through EPA and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ).
2. Species Recovery Plan written by US Fish and Wildlife (USFWS). Recovery goals are tied to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), enforced by the USFWS, and are regulatory requirements, rather than optional recommendations.
3. Species Management Plan written by a State Game and Fish Department. Unless species are T&E (tied to ESA), most species recovery goals are not regulatory mandates, but rather optional recommendations. However, it is highly advisable to adhere to these recommendations as closely as possible to achieve overall restoration goals.
4. Quality Criteria Assessment Report written by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). These recommendations are not regulatory in terms of being mandated by law, however it is advisable to follow them as closely as possible to achieve overall restoration goals and improve opportunities to qualify for other USDA programs, such as the Conservation Security Program (CSP).

 In addition, a “legally restored” riparian area should have comparable clearly upward trending before and after Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) ratings and monitoring data from qualified agencies and/or consulting experts to document practice outcomes. In order to assess achievement of a specific goal, correct monitoring methods must be used that is appropriate or sensitive to this goal.
 
Riparian areas can be classified in terms of the degree to which they are “legally restored” through implementation of recommended improvement practices. For example, Nutrioso Creek is a perennial stream located in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona lying within the Upper Little Colorado River Watershed (Hydrologic Unit Code ID: 15020001). Approximately 30 landowners own segments adjoining the creek measuring from 100 feet to several miles. However, only the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest and two private ranchers have taken the restoration steps to implement one or more practices addressing the legal and quasi-legal conditions to guide further water quality and habitat restoration, maintenance, and protection of Nutrioso Creek.
 
On the EC Bar Ranch, I have treated three miles of Nutrioso Creek to address all recommended practices meeting the definition of a legally restored riparian area. The following is a list of reports and examples of practice implementation and outcomes. Reference documentation is available on the www.ecbarranch.com website and at link http://ecbarranch.com/articles/nrcs_cp_results.htm.

1. TMDL report written by Arizona Department of Environment Quality (ADEQ) and approved by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 for a non-point pollution source impaired or non-attaining water body on the 303(d) list. The Nutrioso Creek TMDL for Turbidity Report” written in 2000 addressed water quality concerns in the form of suspended solids, or turbidity, on 7-miles of Nutrioso Creek. Three miles were on private property and four miles on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest out of a total length of 27 miles. The non-point source of pollution was exposed streambanks aggravated by historical overuse by large ungulates such as livestock and elk. Water quality monitoring over the last five years has been performed by ADEQ with a review in 2006 to determine whether any portions of Nutrioso Creek should be removed from the 303(d) list. At the end of 2005, all TMDL recommendations had been implemented on the EC Bar Ranch within the five-year time line projected in the report and the ADEQ sediment load reduction goal of 50-tons per year was also met.
    
2. Species Recovery Plan written by US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). The Little Colorado River Spinedace Recovery Plan written in 1998 addressed habitat concerns for the LC spinedace, listed as ‘threatened” under the ESA. This report made a wide range of recommendations to improve habitat for this species wherever it may be found on the Little Colorado River and tributaries, including Nutrioso Creek. USFWS and AGFD monitor fish populations on a periodic basis. At the end of 2005, all Recovery Plan recommendations applicable to Nutrioso Creek on the EC Bar Ranch had been implemented, including creation of a Safe Harbor Agreement.
    
3. Fish Management Report written by Arizona Game & Fish Department (AGFD). The Nutrioso Creek Fish Management Report written in 2001 addressed habitat concerns for the LC spinedace and other native fish living in Nutrioso Creek. This report made recommendations specific to Nutrioso Creek to improve habitat for native fish, most of which are listed as species of concern in Arizona including the LC spinedace which is also federally listed as “threatened”. All these recommendations were implemented on the EC Bar Ranch at the end of 2005. After five years, in May 2005, AGFD collected data on native fish populations in Nutrioso Creek that indicated no LC spinedace were found in “critical habitat” below Nelson Reservoir. This survey reported the majority of LC spinedace and other native fish were found in reach 3 on the EC Bar Ranch where habitat and water quality improvements had been completed.
    
4. Arizona Resource Concerns & Quality Criteria Assessment for Crop and Pastureland (QCA) completed by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In 1997, there were approximately 28 resource concerns present on the EC Bar Ranch. Since then, a wide variety of conservation practices recommended by state and Federal agencies were implemented. In December 2005, a NRCS Conservationist applied the 71 question Arizona Resource Concerns & Quality Criteria Assessment for Crop and Pastureland to the entire 400-acre EC Bar Ranch, including 3-miles of Nutrioso Creek. It was determined that all State and national standards used by NRCS for soil quality, water quality and wildlife habitat had been met.
    
5. Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) rating under the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) national rating criteria checklist documenting practice outcomes. In 1996 when the EC Bar Ranch was acquired, a PFC survey was performed along 2-miles of Nutrioso Creek that rated the condition as “non-functional” due to historical over-grazing of riparian and upland pastures. In 1999, following installation of riparian fencing and exclusion of livestock, AGFD surveyed fish populations and ADEQ monitored water quality standards. The PFC rating was “functional-at-risk in an upward trend”. In 2005, after the implementation of all best management practices recommended in State and Federal agency reports, the majority of Nutrioso Creek on the EC Bar Ranch was rated in “proper functioning condition”. Independent experts with expertise in hydrology, ecology, wildlife habitat, water quality, and geomorphology performed these PFC surveys which indicated that as conservation practices were implemented, the functional condition of Nutrioso Creek improved.
    
6. Monitoring reports documenting practice outcomes. A variety of photo monitoring, expert observations, and vegetative descriptions have been reported between 1998 and 2005 by the NRCS, ADEQ, AGFD, USFWS, Arizona Water Protection Fund, and consulting experts in geomorphology and ecology. These studies and reports indicate an upward trend in wetland and upland pasture conditions on the EC Bar Ranch throughout the period.

In summary, the EC Bar Ranch is one example, if not the only example in Arizona, where a riparian area has been legally restored to the highest standards set out by State and Federal agencies, thus providing significant and long lasting benefits to the LC spinedace.