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Eight Steps to Restore or Rehabilitate A Stream Corridor <br />To ensure success, you need to thoroughly plan and carefully implement your restoration or rehabilitation <br />effort. The steps on this page will help you achieve your goals. <br />1. Getting to Know Your Stream <br />5. Establish Your Objectives <br />• Your first step is to familiarize yourself <br />with your stream and its combination of <br />characteristics. Take a walk along, or maybe <br />even in, your stream. <br />2. Assess Your Stream & Streamside Area <br />• Identify healthy stream reaches. <br />• Identify problem areas. <br />• If necessary, seek assistance from resource <br />professionals. <br />• Use stream channel and riparian area <br />assessment forms available from local resource <br />agencies. <br />3. Quantify Problems: For Example, Ask <br />• How many feet of stream bank lack vegetation <br />and are eroding? <br />• How many feet of stream bank contain noxious <br />weeds or species with poor root structure? <br />• How healthy is the fish habitat? Are pools and <br />riffles adequate for fish reproduction, rearing, <br />and overwintering? <br />4. Prioritize Problems to Address <br />• Read Section 2 in this guide about common <br />stream problems and their solutions. <br />• Discuss the stream problems with a stream <br />management specialist. <br />• Determine which problems can feasibly be <br />corrected by your actions. <br />• Which problems need the help of your <br />neighbors and community? <br />• Objectives should be realistic. If you include <br />measurable standards and a workable time <br />frame, you can better gauge your success. For <br />example, you could aim to increase cover of <br />native streambank vegetation by 50 percent <br />in five years in a particular reach. <br />6. Develop a Work Plan <br />• Evaluate a range of alternatives. <br />• Compare the costs for different management <br />practices and restoration alternatives. <br />7. Implement Your Work Plan <br />• Obtain all necessary work permits. <br />• Obtain funding. <br />• Adopt new management practices. <br />• Improve stream channel stability by <br />installing tree revetments, or planting <br />streamside vegetation. <br />• Seek qualified contractors to assist you. <br />8. Monitor the Results <br />• Annually evaluate whether you are meeting <br />your restoration objectives. <br />• Assess the need for modification. <br />• Share your observations with stream <br />management professionals so that we all <br />learn how to manage and restore streams <br />successfully. <br />32