A Decade of Collaborative Research: The Pooled Monitoring Initiative's Role in Supporting Watershed Restoration
Sadie Drescher
Chesapeake Bay Trust
Annapolis, Maryland
Authors: Sadie Drescher and Scott Lopez
This presentation outlines a decade-long effort pooling funding to address key research questions in watershed restoration. As restoration projects aiming to improve water quality, habitat, and other factors increase, persistent questions about their effectiveness can hinder progress and waste resources. The Pooled Monitoring Program addresses this gap by gathering new research questions annually through a consensus-based process and pooling funding to support projects. Research results are shared with stakeholders, ensuring their input and use.
The program has expanded to include diverse funding sources, stakeholders, and end-users. It uses science to answer pressing questions posed by the regulatory and practitioner communities about stream restoration and stormwater management. This presentation will highlight the program's evolution, including collaboration with similar efforts on the West Coast, and improvements made to date, along with its future direction.
Key research questions include the cumulative impacts of restoration practices at the watershed scale, the effectiveness of restoration projects for benthic health, climate change, and emerging pollutants; the use of social science to promote the adoption of BMPs; and the trade-offs among resources impacted by restoration activities (e.g., equipment used and/or trees removed). The program's uniqueness lies in pooling funds for monitoring efforts, increasing the power of research results, and delivering results to regulators and practitioners to inform decision-making.
The program aims to increase confidence in restoration project outcomes, clarify the optimal conditions for applying restoration techniques, assist regulatory agencies, and improve restoration programs. Audience feedback on future research needs is encouraged, and more information at: https://cbtrust.org/restoration-research/.
About Sadie Drescher
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