ABSTRACT
The reestablishment of good water quality is a prime concern in stream restoration efforts. Bank stabilization offers erosion control, some amount of instream cover, and maintenance of a natural meander and thalweg pattern in the river reach. Despite this apparent increase in homogeneity of habitats, bank stabilization ultimately enhances the ecological success of instream and riparian populations by providing a stable physical habitat and maintaining a predictable hydrograph within the river channel without the adverse effects of declining water quality, unstable banks, and deteriorating instream substrate conditions. It has been used to adjudicate a number of flow reservations and has resulted in provision of legal standing for a number of rivers in the United States as primary water consumers. Only recently have nontraditional applications of Instream flow incremental methodology been used to assess flow-related concerns in riverine ecosystems.
