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restoration priorities as appropriate, such scores should not constitute the final interpretation of <br />site status. While the overall score may indicate that a stream reach is functioning well, one or <br />more individual indicators may be extremely off balance. Very low individual or clustered <br />scores in an otherwise high scoring system often indicate that there are specific impacts on the <br />stream or riparian area that should be addressed, and which, if not reversed, may eventually <br />lead to an overall decline in the health of the system. For example, a reach may be functioning <br />well physically, but be biologically degraded, in which case the need for restoration action <br />depends on the management goals for that reach, and whether biological functions are impor- <br />tant. Alternatively, a reach's hydrology and streamflow patterns may be highly altered but the <br />system might appear otherwise healthy. Thus the interpretation of reach conditions should <br />involve an analysis of the overall scores against the mean category scores and reference condi- <br />tions to improve understanding of ecological function and management goals for the reach. <br />3. Specific Directions for Scoring Each Indicator <br />The next pages in this next section provide detailed instnictions for collecting the information <br />needed to score each variable. The instructions are given in the order the variables appear on <br />the Score Sheet. The Field Worksheet organizes the variables according to the physical areas of <br />observations, resulting in a different order. <br />14 <br />