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Applicability of Stream Quantification Tools for Assessing Compensatory Mitigation Credits from Restoration
John S. Schwartz, PhD, PE
Professor, Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Director, Tennessee Water Resources Research Center
University of Tennessee, Knoxville,
Knoxville, TN
The Federal Compensatory Mitigation Rule (2008), under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404, promotes functional assessments to determine the appropriate amount of mitigation to replace the loss of stream functions due to unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources. To provide predictability and consistency with these compensatory mitigation requirements, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have promoted the development of a Stream Quantification Tool (SQT), which several states and USACE Districts have adopted and implemented on stream restoration projects that require a CWA Section 404 permit. The South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Colorado SQT have been technically reviewed and applied by a broad consortium of practitioners and academics to understand and test the protocols. These SQTs identify stream functions establishing standard protocols to quantify potential stream function impacts that may result from proposed projects, and estimate the potential benefits (lift) or detriments (loss) from stream restoration. The SQT protocols are based on function-based parameters and measuring metrics within five functional categories: hydrology, hydraulics, geomorphology, physiochemical, and biology.
This presentation will provide a direct comparison of regional SQT programs with a select set of non-pyramid-based assessment methods to evaluate whether SQT is an appropriate method to accurately capture the range of chemical, physical, and biological characteristics degraded in one river or restored in another. The results of the comparison will be presented such that regional SQTs have the potential to promote best practices for restoration, and their use is reasonable for certain stream types. Practitioners and academics, however, have found some applications of SQT to be problematic in more complex geomorphic settings and highly altered watersheds such as urbanizing catchments. A tool founded in a one-size-fits-all approach may not accurately reflect lift and loss and may result in inappropriate use as assessment and design tools. Thus, this presentation will help understand and explain the challenges and opportunities presented by the current regulatory direction of compensatory stream mitigation. Incorporating metrics of active physical and ecological processes, and the linkages between functions within the SQT is critical to gaining a full understanding of system dynamics and to accurately determine debits and credits of restoration projects.
About John S. Schwartz, PhD, PE
Dr. John Schwartz is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, and the Director of the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center. He joined the CEE Department at UT in 2003 focusing on research in areas of water resources engineering, water quality, and stream restoration. He received his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri Columbia in 1982, his MS in Fisheries Science at Oregon State University in 1991, and his PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2002. In addition to academia, Dr. Schwartz has worked in both the public and private sectors including US EPA in Region 6 in NDDES Enforcement, and Oregon consulting firms.
