Lack of maintenance is a major challenge for stream restoration projects

Abstract

Environmental infrastructure and practices designed to restore and protect aquatic systems are now mainstream. Yet many of these projects are failing to produce the biophysical outcomes that they are designed for because of poor maintenance. The success of restoration projects is just as much a consequence of how they are maintained, as it is how the project was initially designed and implemented. Successful maintenance relies on understanding the ecological and biological recovery trajectories of aquatic systems. Some interventions will require ongoing maintenance indefinitely, whereas others will reach a self-sustaining point where maintenance is no longer required. Different management ar..