Site-Specific Restoration and Enhancement Services
Restoration and enhancement of aquatic ecosystems requires an understanding of numerous disciplines. Tidal wetlands, non-tidal wetlands, estuaries, creeks/rivers, sloughs, lakes, and riparian zone ecosystems are defined and maintained by different physical, chemical and biological dynamics.
Each of these target ecosystems differ in the requirements of their indigenous biotic communities, regulatory frameworks within which projects must be permitted, monitoring strategies to document restoration success, site-specific constraints, engineering design elements, and assessment methods to develop and implement appropriate restoration strategies. We have considerable expertise in implementing a comprehensive systems approach for planning and implementing assessment, restoration, and enhancement across the range of aquatic environments. We also design and build wastewater treatment and storm water management wetlands to meet our clients' needs and site-specific conditions. Our end-to-end services include:
Site investigations
- Hydrologic, geomorphic, topographic, and bathymetric assessments and surveys
- Fish, wildlife, plant and invertebrate surveys and habitat mapping
- Wetland delineation
- Sediment transport and settling analyses
- Tidal datum reckoning
- Non-tidal and tidal surfacewater hydrology
- Groundwater hydrology
- Hydrogeomorphic assessments
- Limnological assessments
- Wetland biogeochemistry and cycling
- Sampling of surface and groundwater, water quality, soil and sediment, plants and algae
- Watershed, point and non-point assessments
- Hydrologic budgets
- Nutrient budgets
- Fate and transport assessments and modeling
Restoration planning and design
- Fish and wildlife migration studies and barrier assessment
- Habitat enhancement assessment
- Restoration design to maximize functional and aesthetic value and minimize maintenance requirements
- System component design, including channel morphology and capacities, water control structures, pumps and piping
- Engineering plans and specifications
- Process and conceptual design for wetlands alone or as part of a treatment system (e.g. ponds, grit chambers, activated sludge)
- Hydrologic modeling (HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, and SWMM)
Remote sensing, GIS analysis, and cartography
- {See description of skills under REGIONAL NATURAL RESOURCES PLANNING}
Storm water and wastewater treatment wetlands
- Wetland design
- Hydraulic and hydrologic modeling
- Pollutant removal modeling
- Construction and implementation oversight
- Plant selection and planting criteria
- Monitoring
Regulatory compliance
- Clean Water Act Section 404 individual and nationwide permits
- Stream and Lakebed Alteration Agreements
- San Francisco Bay and Suisun Marsh permits
- Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certifications
- State and Federal Endangered Species Act Consultation
- CEQA and NEPA evaluations
Project construction
- Migration barrier reconfiguration or removal
- Development of best management practices
- Well installation
- Construction planning and oversight
- Re-vegetation
- As-built surveys
Restoration monitoring
- Monitoring program design, including sampling protocol development
- Data collection and analysis
- Database design and management
- Data analysis and synthesis into project outcome and "lessons learned" reports
