Stream Restoration Viability

In 2003, the Chicago Wilderness Partnership, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Openlands Project and the U.S. Geological Survey reviewed 111 stream restoration projects, performed field inspections on over 54 projects, and detailed vegetation and stream channel assessments on 21 projects in 11 streams in a study by funded the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's 319 Program. The 21 projects were chosen as mature with projects being installed 4 to 13 years prior to the start of this study. The projects are located on eleven different streams and were chosen to represent a variety of restoration techniques, and watershed and stream characteristics. Restoration techniques included instream practices such as riffle construction or remeandering of channelized streams. Biotechnical or bioengineering best management practices were used to control bank erosion where vegetation is combined with soft biodegradable materials or hard materials including structures of rock, concrete jacks, or plastic materials. While most structures were stable, riparian revegetation and instream habitat enhancement often did not achieve desired objectives. Reed Canary grass dominated many restored stream banks with limited evidence of native plantings. While protected banks did not erode, little evidence of biotic or habitat enhancement was documented.