Protocol implementation plan for monitoring discharge in Greater Yellowstone Network parks: Narrative version 1.0

Ray, Andrew; Legg, Kristin; Levandowski, Mary; Daley, Rob

The Greater Yellowstone Network (GRYN) is one of 32 Inventory and Monitoring Networks covering 270 national park units within the National Park System. These networks serve an important role in providing park resource managers with important scientific data on the status and condition of vital park resources. This role was established in the Natural Resource Challenge which directed parks to place a great emphasis on natural resource stewardship in meeting the National Park Service mission to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” GRYN includes four national park units: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Teton National Park, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, and Yellowstone National Park. Combined, these parks span over one million hectares and represent a topographically complex and climatologically heterogeneous region. Park staff and subject matter experts recognized the diversity of ecosystems and, in particular, the ecological and societal importance of water to this region when identifying important park resources for long-term monitoring. Stream flow (or more generally, discharge) was identified as one of the selected vital signs in GRYN’s long-term Vital Signs Monitoring Plan (Jean et al. 2005). Water resources in GRYN parks are diverse and include alpine lakes, rivers, perennial and ephemeral streams, springs, geysers, wetlands, and natural lakes and reservoirs. In addition, GRYN parks include one designated Wild and Scenic River (the Snake River) and one World Heritage Site (Yellowstone National Park). Yellowstone National Park was recognized as a World Heritage Site, in part, because of its unique aquatic resources; over 200 geysers and upwards of 10,000 geothermal resources are present inside park boundaries. This protocol implementation plan and the accompanying standard operating procedures (SOPs; Ray et al. 2017), provide the details of how GRYN will use established protocols from the Sierra Nevada Network (Skancke et al. 2017a) and Southwest Alaska Network (Shearer et al. 2015a) as guidance for the implementation of a discharge monitoring protocol for select rivers, streams, and spring outlets throughout GRYN parks. GRYN acknowledges the value of long-term U.S. Geological Survey gaging station flow data and plans to leverage these datasets in a way that enables us to discuss change and quantify trends in river and stream flow for network parks and the public. We ask readers to recognize that this protocol implementation plan may be revised as new and emerging analytical and monitoring techniques come available. We will be mindful not to modify SOPs unless there is strong justification in doing so. We also recognize that as more data, monitoring tools, and analytical techniques become available, new questions will arise leading to more in-depth analyses and additional considerations.

Protocol implementation plan for monitoring discharge in Greater Yellowstone Network parks: Narrative version 1.0

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