Rapid Hydrological Responses Following Process‐Based Restoration in a Degraded Sierra Nevada Meadow

ABSTRACT Mountain meadows are ecologically important groundwater dependent ecosystems that retain and store water in upland forested landscapes. They tend to occur in low gradient, broad valleys where water slows and sediment accumulates, making them efficient locations for restoration. Over a century and a half of land use has degraded many meadows in the Sierra Nevada, reducing their hydrological and ecological functionality. Process‐based restoration (PBR) is an ecosystem rehabilitation approach that utilises biogeomorphic processes to facilitate functional ecosystem recovery. Low‐tech applications of PBR leverage fluvial processes, plant growth and the manipulation of onsite materials to increase structural and hydrological complexity. In meadows, typical goals associated with restoration are to increase groundwater elevations, expand wetted area, encourage sediment capture and create diffuse flow paths leading to improved ecological function over time. This study compares surface and groundwater conditions in a degraded riparian meadow in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA for 1 year before and after process‐based restoration to understand initial changes in meadow hydrogeomorphic function. Restoration included the installation of 39 postless beaver dam analog structures in ~1 km of incised meadow channel. Stage‐discharge data at the inlet and outlet of the project area were paired with groundwater data collected from 13 wells distributed across the meadow to estimate increased water storage of 3700 m3 due to restoration. After the wet winter of 2023, we estimated that pools upstream of structures filled to over half their volume with fine sediment. We also applied hydrodynamic modelling to evaluate fluvial changes at high flows and found that restoration increased flow complexity and wetted surface area. These short‐term responses highlight the potential speed and ability of low‐tech, process‐based restoration in achieving restoration outcomes. Process‐based restoration is potentially an efficient and scalable restoration approach for degraded mountain meadows. Both monitoring and modelled data within a Sierra Nevada meadow in California demonstrate that process‐based restoration increased water storage, sediment retention, channel complexity and wetted surface area within 1 year of implementation.