Strategies for Protecting, Reconnecting, and Restoring Fish Habitats in Southern US Rivers

Through the efforts of the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and other regional and national conservation initiatives, project funding directed at river conservation in the southern US has surged over the past decade. These initiatives have raised the profile of southern US rivers, promoting their ecological, recreational, and economic values. They have also contributed to improved habitat conditions through a variety of regulatory, policy, and voluntary-based conservation initiatives, primarily focused on restoring and preserving natural watershed conditions (e.g., natural land cover, natural flow regimes) and related physical processes (e.g., groundwater recharge and spring flows, sediment transport) that in turn influence the condition of fish habitats in aquatic systems. Conservation actions have included large-scale, cooperative conservation on private lands (e.g., landowner incentives to implement watershed best management practices); flow agreements with dam operators and water authorities (that attempt to mimic natural flow regimes); dam removal (to restore fish passage and connectivity); instream structural habitat improvements; and riparian habitat restoration, among others. This presentation will provide case studies of river conservation projects recently completed or underway in rivers throughout the region, highlighting specific restoration techniques and approaches, partnerships, challenges, outcomes for fish and wildlife populations, and lessons-learned.