PA Aquatic Resource Restoration Conference 2026: Past, Present and Future

Stream restoration practice is becoming increasingly dynamic and multifaceted, as floodplain restoration strategies become more commonplace (e.g., legacy sediment removal, Stage 0 Restoration, beaver-related restoration, etc.). These techniques generally incorporate a larger section of the floodplain, create multiple channels, and may change in form over the monitoring period. Although these techniques have the potential for greater ecological function where appropriate, existing regulatory frameworks (designed for single-thread, perennial, transport reaches) have consistently lagged behind restoration trends. In this session I will first present the challenges that floodplain restoration presents to existing channel-based frameworks generally, and to compensatory mitigation specifically. I will then explore how these challenges are actively being addressed by existing methods, and present potential evaluation strategies for dynamic floodplain systems. Finally, I will present a comprehensive list of performance metrics and discuss potential credit and debiting strategies. This presentation will look at stream restoration in a national context and incorporates the input from expert practitioners, regulators, and academics. This work reflects the culmination of three years of research, conducted as an ORISE fellow in the Freshwater and Marine Regulatory Branch at the EPA.