Watersheds...
Watershed Assessments
Water resources planning spans a continuum of drainage areas from entire river basins, sub-basins, watersheds,
and sub-watersheds to catchments and smaller areas. Ecologically responsible development
begins at the watershed level with zoning and other planning elements, and should include detailed plans to the catchment
and even sub-catchment levels.
Degraded streams are often just a symptom
of a more widespread problem. Stream restoration efforts should begin with an evaluation of the watersheds and catchments that affect the stream.
ATR Associates performs all levels of watershed assessments. Many urban
areas benefit from the Unified Subwatershed and Site Reconnaissance (USSR)
approach developed by the Center for Watershed Protection. Other areas
require alterna-tive or additional evaluations. We focus on developing
quantitative information that will allow planners, developers and engineers
design approaches to protect the ecosystem. Too many watershed assessment
efforts provide only the information needed to assign priorities for further
study, and not the information needed to actually develop comprehensive
watershed protection or restoration plans.
Watershed Planning
ATR Associates brings a new perspective to watershed planning. We are not planners - we are ecological engineers.
However, we work with planners, zoning officials, and others by providing
quantitative goals and objectives for watershed plans. We incorporate
quantitative information derived from stream and watershed assessments so that
planners, developers, architects and other engineers can plan development
activities in a way that minimizes adverse effects on the environment.
While we do prepare watershed plans for degraded watersheds, we encourage government entities and developers to prepare watershed plans for pristine or relatively unaffected
watersheds. We believe that too many times priority is given to
already-affected watersheds because the problems are obvious and watershed
assessment procedures have largely been developed for degraded areas.
While we think that it is important to address degraded areas, we also feel that
'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'.
Typical Projects
Fort Lee, Virginia Watershed Assessment
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