Bridging Engineering, Ecological, and Geomorphic Science to Enhance Riverine Restoration: Local and National Efforts

Streams and rivers have experienced some of the most dramatic human-induced alterations of any ecosystem types. Species extinctions and declining water quality and quantity are of such urgent concern that restoration efforts are now a major focus. We argue that successful restoration of running- water ecosystems is best accomplished by a shift from a strict engineering focus to efforts directed by interdisciplinary teams of engineers, ecologists, and geomorphologists. Stream structure and function from a flow, sediment, or biological perspective are inextricably linked to channel dynamics and sediment movement, so geomorphologists have unique contributions to make. Ecologists provide critical input relative to the interplay between on-site ecological processes and the hydrologic and geomorphic context in which these processes are grounded. Interdisciplinary restoration efforts have enormous potential; however, restoration has suffered from lack of evaluation and lack of synthetic studies of past efforts. We outline a new initiative - the National Riverine Restoration Science Synthesis (NRRSS) - that involves a large interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers working in partnership with the river conservation organization, American Rivers. Participants are assembling a data set that spans multiple ecoregions and many types of restoration activities performed by diverse groups with various stakeholders. We are addressing: what kinds of restoration activities, at what scale, and by what means have taken place; how goals were set and success measured; the extent to which scientific criteria were used; the extent to which adaptive management was an explicit component; and the extent to which scientists formed partnerships with restoration practitioners to use restoration projects as opportunities for scientific experimentation. The goal of the project is to facilitate the linkage between the practice of ecological restoration and the science of restoration ecology, as well as establish standards for data gathering and analysis to assess restoration methods and success in a scientifically rigorous manner.