Integrating water resources infrastructure with agricultural land management to advance nature-based solutions for water quality
This project aims to harmonize water resources infrastructure, such as reservoirs and levees, with agricultural land management across the U.S., presenting nature-based solutions for improved water quality. Our objectives include identifying potential integration areas, modeling at least one such system based on stakeholder preferences, testing a nature-based solution within the selected system, devising methods to […]
Testing Efficacy of Remote Sensing to Measure Multiple Environmental Benefits of Water Level Management: A Case Study at Wilson Lake, Kansas
Water level management (WLM) is an important management approach for many different benefits at reservoirs including threatened and endangered species (TES) management. Whooping Cranes (WHCR) are an endangered species that require shallow water depths (<18 inches), open spaces without nearby woody or tall vegetation, and a glide path free of obstructions for roost locations. Many […]
Island Creation and Stabilization Review and AdH Modeling to Develop Best Practices, Design Criteria, and Recommendations for Large Navigable River Island and Secondary Channel Management
Large navigable rivers have been modified in ways that channelize main channels and isolate off-channel aquatic areas to concentrate flow to create safe and efficient navigation channels. Channelization eliminates natural island forming processes and degrades existing island and secondary channel habitat. Concurrent levee building to reduce flood risks to agriculture and urban areas isolates seasonal […]
Operational Beach Management Practices to Encourage Resilient Dune Development
Operational Beach Management Practices to Encourage Resilient Dune Development is a project designed to encourage consistent communication between the scientific community and coastal regulatory agencies to ensure that best-performing methods of beach management are being executed. Given the variability in beach management practices and regulations from coastline to coastline, this study aims to consolidate this […]
Removing “Artificial” from Artificial Habitats: 3D Printing Natural Materials to Unlock Complex Nature-Inspired Infrastructure
Infrastructure design focusing solely on engineering functionality misses opportunities to realize natural resource enhancements to achieve additional economic, ecological, and social benefits. Traditional manufacturing generates geometrically simple structures that do not mimic natural geometries. The design freedom unlocked by 3D Printing (3DP) diverse synthetic and natural materials is ideal for mimicking natural aesthetics and rapidly […]
Big River Confluence Hydraulic and Ecosystem Dynamics
The pallid sturgeon is a federally endangered big-river fish species. It is the position of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (U.S. FWS) that over time, river training structures have adversely affected pallid sturgeon by impacting the quality and quantity of habitats to which the species is adapted (e.g., braided channels, irregular flow patterns, flood cycles, […]
Linking Stream Mechanics and Engineering Design with Aquatic Biosystems: the Complete Ecological Puzzle
Maintaining a natural channel within a normal range of geomorphic dimensions and biological conditions with engineered, hydraulic structures is important for several reasons including sediment transport, depth variation, bedform and aquatic habitat maintenance, and aquatic faunal access to biocomplex habitats. By integrating engineered structures with aquatic biosystems, a holistic and complete stream corridor is achievable. […]
Using EWN to Create Habitat for Threatened and Endangered Species in the Gulf of Mexico: Demonstration of Conservation Planning with the USFWS
This research will complement and build on a DOTS Activity funded in FY21. The DOTS project assessed breeding bird phenology on six dredged material islands and two open disposal areas in Baptiste Collette Bayou, Louisiana. DOTS is funding the USGS to monitor these areas during the migratory and over-wintering seasons in fall-winter 2021-2022 to gather […]
The Static and Dynamic Benefits of Beneficial Use: Forging Connections to Engineering With Nature
Using dredged sediment beneficially is an important component of USACE’s dredged material management strategy, which ultimately aims to achieve 70% beneficial use (BU) on an annual basis by 2030. Despite many past successes (Berkowitz et al. 2021), currently, less than 40% of dredged material in the US is used beneficially (Searcy Bell et al. 2021). […]
Acequias as a Paradigm of Direct Community Involvement in Tribal Nation Water Resource Infrastructure and Watershed Management
Acequias are small irrigation diversions and earthen conveyances utilized by the tribal communities, among others, predominantly in northern New Mexico. Communal irrigation practices have been utilized by Indigenous communities since before colonization of the region, and there is a strong cultural tradition that involves rural disparate communities cooperating to maintain main channels and diversions. Recent […]
