Standardizing No Net Loss Stream Mitigation Assessment Methods: Tradeoffs between Expediency and River Science

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2022

Abstract

Environmental regulators use No Net Loss policies to minimize the damaging impacts of development projects on water resources. In this context, regulators prefer standard environmental assessment protocols over ad hoc approaches. This article examines how the St. Louis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) directed the development of statewide standard stream mitigation assessment protocols in Missouri and Illinois to comply with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Protocol development in each state included Corps district representatives along with river scientists and various stakeholders. A primary tension in these discussions centered on the tradeoff between the efficiency of using the protocol vs. its scientific rigor. While consensus in Missouri was achieved by leveraging statewide agreements, Illinois lacked similar agreements and included a wider range of scientific participants, which hindered consensus. Despite these differences, the two states produced remarkably similar stream assessment methods. The similarity largely reflected the authority that Corps districts had over the Section 404 process and their privileging of simple and flexible stream mitigation assessments that can be used across different Corps districts. This study provides insights into the social processes that shape no net loss assessment protocols and the practical challenges of protecting the environmental quality of streams.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13045

Publication Title

Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWR)

Volume Number

58

Issue Number

6

First Page

1407

Last Page

1420

ISSN

1752-1688

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