Project Number: 6408-13000-018-22
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 14, 2006
End Date: Sep 30, 2010

Objective:
To develop functional relationships between sediment transport conditions and the health of aquatic communities using field data, and statistical and numerical analyses.

Approach:
Fish and benthic macro-invertebrate data will be obtained at sites that coincide with historical sediment-sampling programs. These data will be used together to test relations between sediment and flow parameters, and aquatic community structure for the purpose of determining functional links. The channel evolution model CONCEPTS will be evaluated for its capability to predict the required sediment and flow parameters. CONCEPTS then can be used as a tool in TMDL development for streams with impaired aquatic habitat due to sediments.