River Restoration
Nate Johnson
11/26/01
Abstract
Many books and papers have been written on the subject of river restoration.
This paper describes the functions and values of rivers, basic parts of
rivers, disturbances that occur, problem identification techniques, and
restoration practices and techniques.
River Restoration Basics
River restoration is the act of restoring a river as close as possible
to its natural existence including stability and function. The motivation
for restoring a river is to bring back the lost values and functions of
a river.
The functions of a river include hydrologic, sedimentilogic, and ecological
functions. Hydrologic functions of a river includes the transport of water
in a channel, flood water storage on the floodplain, ground water recharge,
dissipation of stream energy in the channel and on the floodplain, and
removal of dissolved pollutants from overland flow from the watershed.
Sediment functions include sediment transport in the channel, sediment
capture from flows on the floodplain, and sediment capture by the corridor
from overland flow. The ecological function of a river is to provide habitat
that has a special combination of physical characteristics needed by a
specific type of organism and a corridor for migration.