Urban Stream Restoration: Balancing A Changing Landscape with Ever-Changing Regulations
Katie Atkinson, PE
Jessica Slagle, EIT
Whitney Thomas, PE, CFM, ENV SP
Timmons Group
Richmond, VA
It is no secret in the Eco-Restoration community that the development and expansion of urban areas continue to impact our natural waterways. The effect of these anthropogenic changes results in quickened degradation and incision of streams, excess sediment and pollutants flushed towards bodies of water, and separation of the floodplain ecosystem from its source of life: the stream. The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been arguably one of the harder-hit regions in terms of shouldering the impacts of urbanization and development. In response, regulations have been put in place to protect natural ecosystems. While these regulations are a positive effort to ensure a mutualistic relationship between human development and natural ecosystems, they can result in dissonance with stream restoration best practices. This is particularly prevalent and restrictive in an urban environment where there is no shortage of other design constraints.
As Stream Restoration designers, our goal is to restore ecosystems back to their pre-development state while acting as good stewards of the environment. However, the disconnect between local, state, or federal regulatory requirements and restoration needs can lead us to scrutinize our approach, balance requirements against needs, and question if restoration is the best possible solution. This presentation will discuss what Urban Stream Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Region requires and approaches to striking a balance between ecological site needs and the ever-changing regulatory landscape that affects our projects.
About Katie Atkinson, PE
Katie Atkinson is a Stormwater Project Manager at Timmons Group in Virginia and is a Biological Systems Engineering Graduate. She has a passion for stream restoration, particularly municipal projects for TMDL Compliance. Katie has made numerous professional presentations detailing her experience with the complexities of urban stream restoration, including navigating the challenges of tight corridors, competing land uses and utility conflicts, just to name a few. The practice of stream restoration is not a stagnant field, and Katie enjoys the evolution of the design process and staying abreast of current crediting methodologies.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-atkinson-pe-020019a8/
About Jessica Slagle, EIT
Jessica Slagle is a Stormwater Project Engineer at Timmons Group in Virginia and is a Biological Systems Engineering Graduate. She has a passion for working outdoors and investigating a variety of stormwater processes and performing inspections. Jessica enjoys stream restoration analysis, design, and implementation, specifically for MS4 compliance. Stream restoration combines many of her interests, including problem solving and environmental rehabilitation, and allows for the ecological uplift within severely degraded systems.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-slagle-0a22aba9/
About Whitney Thomas, PE, CFM, ENV SP
Whitney Thomas is a Stormwater Project Manager at Timmons Group in Virginia and is a Biological Systems Engineering Graduate with a passion for ecological, stream restoration, and green infrastructure design. She enjoys working with urban and rural stakeholders alike to improve hydraulic drainage and stream systems, improve water quality, and to integrate natural systems with urban needs in design. She has a background with FEMA Flood Mapping, Municipal (MS4) and NPDES Permitting and Program Support, Dam Safety, TMDL and Grant Assistance, Stormwater BMP Planning and Design, and Watershed Analyses, amongst other work.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-t-098446a3/
