News & Awards

• Instream Flow Science and Resource Protection Advances in the Southeast

  September 1st, 2011
  

  Photo caption: Flow study on Town Fork Creek, North Carolina. Photo credit: Steve Reed, NC Division of Water Resources. The Southern Instream Flow Network (SIFN) is continuing to leverage the work it is doing with partners to refine resources for application in the South Atlantic states and throughout the SARP region. Following the Southern Instream Flow Research Agenda, SIFN is leading the development of a number of valuable tools, such as a literature survey of regional flow-ecology relationships, a stream classification for southern rivers based on hydrology, and a risk-assessment of flow alteration. SIFN is working closely with the South Atlantic LCC (SALCC) to develop a regional hydrologic model that will help assess flow alteration at a fine temporal and spatial scale under current and climate change scenarios. Opening lines of communication among the SARP states about instream flow issues continues to be a primary objective. SIFN’s collaboration with Virginia and North Carolina is particularly significant at this time, as both states are taking progressive approaches using hydrologic and biological information to inform policy and develop practices to best protect instream flows and aquatic resources. read more >

• Fish Habitat Benefits From More Than $3 Million in Funding

  September 1st, 2011
  

  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will provide more than $3.4 million to support 84 fish habitat projects in 38 states across the nation under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP). An additional $9.8 million in partner contributions, over $13.2 million in total, will go toward restoring and enhancing stream, lake and coastal habitat, as well as improving recreational fishing and helping endangered species. The funding is provided for priority projects identified through seventeen Fish Habitat Partnerships (FHPs) established under the NFHAP. The partnerships strategically direct funding and other resources to habitat improvement projects offering the highest long-term conservation returns for aquatic species. SARP is the largest FHP in the southeast and works with local partners to address regional habitat priorities and national conservation goals. read more >