Habitat Restoration Site Prioritization and Design

Location

Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico

Client

New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission

Project Description

GSA designed and supported construction of six river-floodplain restoration projects along a 31-mile reach of the Rio Grande in Socorro County, NM. The project objective was to increase the amount of nursery habitat for the federally endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow (RGSM).

Restoration site screening and selection utilized field visits and 1-dimension hydrologic models, and factored in topography, flood inundation potential, vegetation types, soil conditions, land ownership and accessibility.

Project designs at all six sites were supported with new RTK-GPS topographic surveys and 2-dimensional hydrodynamic models to determine floodplain excavation quantities and to predict inundation depth and velocity under a range of river flows.

GSA provided construction support, post-restoration effectiveness monitoring and adaptive management and maintenance support.

Project Highlights