Virtual Stream Channels Support Restoring the Real Ones

With nearly half of the country's 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams showing signs of wear and tear due to erosion and sedimentation, there's a tremendous need for restoration of freshwater systems to bring them back to a state of balance. Stream erosion and degradation is more than unsightly. The loading of excess sediment through erosion brings water quality problems and habitat degradation as well.

It's challenging to improve upon or even to mimic nature as it's expressed in a natural healthy stream in a state of equilibrium, but the tools to aid restoration efforts just got a boost with the creation of Virtual StreamLab, a new and more accurate stream flow modeling tool developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota.

Virtual StreamLab, according to a recent press release, achieves a new level in accuracy and detail in portraying patterns of stream flow velocity as it changes over a given reach of the stream channel. A clearer picture of the minute detail in water flow helps support stabilization and restoration of a damaged stream. Knowing more about velocity helps dial in a sense for where excess erosion or deposition of sediment is likely to occur, as well as where and what sort of engineered fix will be most beneficial.

Photo courtesy of Ingolfson, via Wikimedia Commons