Environmental Restoration

Streams and wetlands supply our drinking water, filter pollutants, provide critical habitat for threatened and endangered species, and support recreation and commerce. We help restore these vital ecosystems.

Center

Stream Institute

The Stream Institute is an applied research group that designs and restores stream and wetland ecosystems. We also provide training to improve restoration techniques and assist agencies working on restorations.

Our faculty and staff develop and implement methods that enable

  • Restoration of degraded streams while improving surrounding areas for human use
  • Incorporation of sediment transport assessment techniques into stream restoration
  • Improvement of watershed assessment and monitoring

We use two‐dimensional numerical models to design floodplain habitat and robust solutions to complex flooding and stream stability problems. The models allow us to identify infrastructure and restoration components that are susceptible to flood related damage and modify the design to minimize a project’s vulnerability to failure.

Personnel:

  • Director Arthur Parola
  • Project engineers Clayton Mastin, Jesse Robinson, and William Vesely
  • Geomorphologist Michael Croasdaile
  • Research Ecologist Emily Jones
53

Assessed U.S. streams are impaired

60

Acres of U.S. wetlands lost every hour between 1789 and 1989

52

Miles of streams restored under the direction of Dr. Arthur Parola

Our Faculty

“The work of the Stream Institute is primarily concerned with the mitigation of human effects on streams, wetlands, and watersheds, with an emphasis on the use and development of field techniques for restoration.”

-Dr. Arthur Parola, Director of the Stream Institute

A Key Design Approach

By restoring both groundwater and surface water processes in floodplains and channels, we are able to restore hydrologic conditions that support extensive riparian wetlands and habitats for resident aquatic organisms.

Outreach

The Stream Institute develops and provides practical and reliable training and technical assistance to water resource personnel who design, implement, manage, or regulate stream and watershed restorations.