Featured Projects
Dam Removal & Fish Passage
Fish passage barriers across the United States are being removed or modified to help fish and wildlife, improve safety and boost recreation. We’ve worked on 130+ dam removals, removed hundreds of culverts, and developed best practices resources for bridge crossings.
Estuary Restoration
Estuaries are dynamic ecosystems where oceans, rivers and human economies converge; they’re also critical to rearing grounds for fish and wildlife and at particular risk to a changing climate. Across the country, we’re reconnecting and restoring these habitats.
Camas is one of the most important traditional foods in the Pacific Northwest. Following Euro-American settlement in the area, industrial farming and ranching confined productive camas meadows to just 5% of their original range. Since 2002, we have worked with Tribal communities in the area to develop techniques to reconnect and restore meadow hydrology to improve conditions for camas and other First Foods. #environmental #environmentalimpact #environmentalengineering #waterresources #pacificnorthwest #foodsovereignty
Today marks the 103rd birthday of Marie Morisawa, a pioneer in the field of fluvial geomorphology. In addition to authoring multiple books and articles on the subject, founding the journal Geomorphology, and consulting on a huge variety of projects, she also had a distinguished career as a researcher and educator. She was also a leader in quantifying human preferences for different types of scenery. “Only recently have scientists become sufficiently aroused by deterioration of environmental quality to attempt evaluations of scenic beauty. We are beginning to realize that the true values of life come from ties with the natural world. ... It is necessary to save sanctuaries for the spirit now.” (Pictured: Chewuch River, WA)
#geomorphology #womeninstem #riverrestoration #mariemorisawa #aapiinstem #environmentalscience #pnw
Like any other structure, dams require regular maintenance. When a dam no longer serves its intended function, maintenance costs can be hard to justify—and dams that fall into disrepair can be extremely dangerous. Over the past century, more than 250,000 people around the world have died from dam failures.
So, in the interest of public safety, communities with dams often decide to remove them. Dam removal is a complicated process, and it can be a highly emotional one. Sometimes dams are important landmarks. Impoundments and spillways can mimic attractive natural features like ponds and waterfalls.
One of the biggest concerns that we hear about dam removal is that it will cause flooding. That’s a common misconception. Most dams are run-of-river dams, which means they do not have any flood reduction role. Consequently, in almost all cases a dam removal will not change flood elevations downstream of the dam while lowering flood elevations upstream. In addition, we carefully design the release of impounded water during a dam removal. This “drawdown” process can take months. After releasing the impounded water, the flow downstream is the same as it was before dam removal, and catastrophic dam failure is no longer a risk.
Although dam removal isn’t the right choice in every situation, it can result in beautifully restored streams and rivers that provide important habitat connectivity and new recreational opportunities.
Pictured: the Pucker Street Dam site in Niles, Michigan on the Dowagiac River before and after removal.
#water #riverrestoration #dam #environmentalengineering #waterresources #habitatrestoration #river #civilengineering
Today is World Rivers Day! At Inter-Fluve, not only are we driven to heal aquatic ecosystems through applied science and engineering, but we are honored to have our headquarters on the beautiful Columbia River. #WorldRiversDay #riverrestoration #pnw #pnwlife #columbiariver #columbiagorge #environmental #environment #water #riverlife #hoodriver
Happy #estuaryweek! Estuaries are important for supporting local economies, protecting against sea level rise, sequestering carbon, preventing coastal erosion, and providing critical habitat. The construction of dams, canals, levees, and other structures, combined with other factors like increased stormwater runoff, is threatening estuaries around the world. There are steps we can take to address this, such as this project to improve fish passage around the Peconic Estuary on Long Island. #estuary #riverrestoration #longisland #habitatrestoration #sealevelrise #climatechange #climateresiliency #EnvironmentalEngineering #fishpassage #environmentalscience #fisheriesscience
What happens when a tree falls in a river? In a functioning ecosystem, they provide all sorts of benefits. The branches and roots become ideal hiding spots for young fish and invertebrates, the trunks protect the bank and create pools of cooler and slower moving water, and the decaying leaves and wood become food for a variety of life. In areas where trees were removed, sometimes we need to step in to restart these processes. For over 30 years, we have designed and placed large wood structures in rivers and streams to meet a variety of restoration goals, such as mitigating the effects of erosion and providing habitat for spawning fish. This structure on the Methow River in Washington provides fish habitat while protecting a bridge abutment by pushing flow away from the bank. It also has a “bumper” that protects people floating and swimming in the river. #riverrestoration #erosion #fishing #pnw #pnwlife
#OnThisDay in 1916, Turkish archaeologist Halet Çambel was born. Çambel is notable as a pioneering Hittitologist, the first Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics (Turkish fencing team, 1936), and a predecessor to river restoration techniques used by Inter-Fluve to this day. In the 1960s, she fought to lower the proposed impoundment of the Aslantaş Dam, which ultimately preserved the 3000-year-old Karatepe Fortress. She also encouraged measures such as grazing sheep instead of goats and growing traditional dye plants to mitigate erosion and water pollution in the area. Pictured: bank stabilization, Nason Creek, Washington. #riverrestoration #archaelogy #culturalresources #erosion #bioengineering
Inter-Fluve has been working with @sonoma_water on the restoration of Dry Creek since 2008. On Tuesday, we attended the ground breaking ceremony for the next phase of the project. Thanks to @usace_spd, @noaafisheries, Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, @californiadfw, @mcculloughconstruction, and the many vineyards and wineries who have supported this immense job. #habitatrestoration #salmonfishing #sonomacounty #riverrestoration #environmentalrestoration #wetlands #fisheries