Author(s): Eddy J. Langendoen; R. Richard Lowrance; Carlos V. Alonso; Ronald L. Bingner; Andrew Simon

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Keywords: Stream Channel; Stream Bank; Riparian Zone; Restoration; Models

Abstract: Many of the 5. 5 million kilometers of rivers and streams in the United States are in a degraded condition. Rivers have been channelized and their floodplain riparian zones overtaken by land development. A recent evaluation of one million kilometers of rivers and streams indicates that sedimentation and excess nutrients are the most significant causes of degradation in 44 percent of these streams, many of these loads coming from agricultural lands. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has joined other Federal organizations to develop solutions and guidelines to restoring damaged channel systems. The physical processes that affect stream corridors occur at a variety of scales. Therefore, stream restoration designs need to be based on integrated watershed assessments of the environmental processes in the watershed, riparian zone, and stream channel. The Agricultural Research Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture is developing various numerical models that integrate hydrologic, geomorphic, and biologic processes occurring within the watershed, riparian zone, and stream channel. The AGNPS 98 suite of models simulates the governing processes in the upland areas (Ann AGNPS), the stream channel (CONCEPTS and SNTEMP), and the fish habitat (SIDO). The REMM model simulates the governing processes in the riparian zone. The integration of the above models forms a comprehensive tool that enables engineers, geomorphologists, and biologist to evaluate stream restoration designs.

DOI:

Year: 1999