The Integrated Streambank Protection Guidelines (ISPG) is here! Order it or download it from the ISPG page.

ISPG contains mechanisms and causes of failure (general bank erosion, scour, avulsion, mass failure, subsurface entrainment), shear, vertical distribution of shear, habitat, risk, site and reach based assessment, channel form, channel process (equilibrium and disequilibria), duration and extent of impacts (construction, lost habitat, etc.), lost opportunity, emergency bank protection, and decision-making matrices for selecting appropriate solutions.

Guiding Principles for Bank Protection:

1. Natural erosion processes and rates are essential for ecological health of the aquatic system.
2. Human-caused erosion that exceeds natural rates and amounts is usually detrimental to ecological functions.
3. Natural processes of erosion are expected to occur throughout the channel migration zone. Project considerations should include the channel migration zone and potential upstream and downstream effects.
4. Preservation of natural channel processes will sustain opportunities for continued habitat formation and maintenance.

Works in Progress - These "works in progress" have been developed to show the progress being made with the Aquatic Habitat Guidelines program. Drafts of guidelines currently under development, as well as information pertaining to their development, are presented here. The “works in progress” documents posted on this site illustrate the thoughts of those individuals contributing to the program. The information provided is continually changing and being updated. The “works in progress” documents do not necessarily reflect current guidelines or the policies of state agencies. By entering the links below, you agree to use these documents as discussion drafts only.

• Integrated Streambank Protection Guidelines
(published Spring 2002)
• Summary of Integrated Streambank Protection Guidelines - (PDF Format 2K) A paper describing this guideline presented at the American Water Research Association conference Riparian Ecology and Management in Multi-Land Use Watersheds in Portland, Oregon, August, 2000.
• Draft Guidelines Peer Review - A series of workshops were held in 1999 and 2000 to help ensure that the guideline is comprehensive and reflects the best available science. The workshops brought together regional experts, users, and regulators in the subject of bank protection and aquatic habitat protection to discuss and critique the document. Input from the workshops, as well as written comments, are reviewed and considered for incorporation into revisions of the guidelines documents.