Watershed Restoration Tools

Watershed Restoration

After many years of neglect and abuse, urban streams and rivers have recently become the focus of restoration efforts throughout much of the country. Communities increasingly recognize the value of healthy aquatic systems within urban areas and are taking steps to improve the quality of degraded streams. The motivating factors underlying each program vary. For some, the goal is to improve water quality to receiving waters. In others, the objective is to enhance the urban environment and provide recreational areas. Others seek to recover aquatic diversity within urban streams.

There are essentially three types of urban stream restoration possible. The first is a watershed where it is feasible to at least partially restore a native biological community within the stream. The second is a watershed that acts primarily as a conduit for stormwater runoff, where it is only possible to reduce pollutants to the receiving water body, and few opportunities exist to restore the stream. The third is a watershed where both pollutant load reductions and stream restoration are not feasible, and restoration is limited to stream corridor management.

While many communities now share the goal of urban watershed restoration, they may not always be sure how to go about it, or whether it is really achievable given local conditions. To achieve realistic improvements in aquatic communities for urban streams, a three-pronged approach to watershed restoration is generally recommended that involves stormwater retrofitting, pollution prevention, and stream enhancement. (See the "Assessing the Potential for Urban Watershed Restoration" article in .pdf format for more extensive detail on the stream restoration process.)

The information below provides a good starting point for learning about the different types of stream restoration practices available and how well they work, the steps for identifying locations in your watershed that might benefit from restoration practices, and an example of how one community employed stream restoration practices and retrofits as part of their watershed management plan.

Tools You Can Use

Stream Restoration This article outlines the results of our stream restoration practices study, which assessed the performance of more than 20 stream restoration projects in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. The study examines a wide variety of bank stabilization techniques, instream habitat devices, planting methods and other techniques at projects that were generally five years old or older.
Stormwater Retrofits: Tools for Watershed Enhancement: This article provides a general overview of stormwater retrofits and explains how they can be incorporated into watershed protection efforts.
Retrofit Assessment: "Eight Steps to Stormwater Retrofitting" outlines the eight steps of performing a retrofit inventory, which involves examining existing stormwater management practices and pinpointing locations that might benefit from additional practices. Details on retrofit implementation are included.
Example Urban Watershed Plan (Watts Branch): This watershed plan for a highly urbanized watershed in suburban MD illustrates the use of aggressive stormwater retrofitting and stream restoration measures as a means of restoring degraded urban water resources.