WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have developed and released a manual to establish consistent methods to assess, design and manage wood projects for river and stream restoration throughout the United States. The National Large Wood Manual provides a basic understanding of the role of wood in fluvial aquatic and riparian ecosystems and information on how wood should be maintained, reintroduced and managed by resource managers and restoration practitioners.
The amount of wood in rivers has declined throughout the last two centuries-leading to a degradation of riverine ecosystems and a decline of native species. Wood is not just debris in a river that is carried to the sea; it is a natural part of a river or stream and is beneficial to restoration of natural river and stream conditions. It alters channel morphology, fluvial processes, the storage of sediment and organic matter and helps the landscapes evolve.
The use of wood in restoration projects is a cost-effective and ecologically beneficial engineering approach to meet environmental mandates and endangered species requirements, while maintaining traditional agency missions.
The Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are charged with protecting native and listed species, while meeting water delivery and managing flood risk, navigation and ecosystem restoration mandates. The manual is available for download at www.usbr.gov/research.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
