Stream Restoration Protocols were created by an expert panel and are used by Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Trust Fund. There are five protocols within stream restoration. These practice types require additional inputs in order to calculate the estimated reductions.

This article provides all of the qualifying conditions and input information that you will find in the FieldDoc system when entering your information for Protocol 1. It is provided in order to help you prepare your information during the project set up process.

Find information on each protocol visit their respective articles

Protocol 1 - Prevented Sediment

Protocol 2 - Denitrification in the hyporheic zone

Protocol 3 - Floodplain reconnection

Protocol 4 - Stormwater performance standard

Protocol 5 - Outfall and gully stabilization

And read this article for steps and videos ons how to add your stream restoration practice to your project.

The stream reach must be greater than 100 feet in length and be still actively enlarging or degrading in response to upstream development or adjustment to previous disturbances in the watershed (e.g., a road crossing and failing dams). Most projects will be located on first- to third-order streams, but if larger fourth and fifth order streams are found to contribute significant and uncontrolled amounts of sediment and nutrients to downstream waters, consideration for this BMP would be appropriate, recognizing that multiple and/or larger scale projects may be needed or warranted to achieve desired watershed treatment goals.

The project must utilize a comprehensive approach to stream restoration design, addressing long-term stability of the channel, banks, and floodplain.

Special consideration is given to projects that are explicitly designed to reconnect the stream with its floodplain or create wetlands and instream habitat features known to promote nutrient uptake or denitrification.

Each project must comply with all state and federal permitting requirements, including 404 and 401 permits, which may contain conditions for pre-project assessment and data collection, as well as post-construction monitoring.

Stream restoration is a carefully designed intervention to improve the hydrologic, hydraulic, geomorphic, water quality, and biological condition of degraded urban streams, and must not be implemented for the sole purpose of nutrient or sediment reduction.

There may be instances where limited bank stabilization is needed to protect critical public infrastructure, which may need to be mitigated and does not qualify for any sediment or reduction credits.

A qualifying project must meet certain presumptive criteria to ensure that high functioning portions of the urban stream corridor are not used for in-stream stormwater treatment (i.e., where existing stream quality is still good). These may include one or more of the following: