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Five Elements for Effective Evaluation of Stream Restoration
Author(s) -
Kondolf G. Mathias
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
restoration ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1526-100X
pISSN - 1061-2971
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-100x.1995.tb00086.x
Subject(s) - stream restoration , environmental resource management , baseline (sea) , environmental restoration , flood myth , program evaluation , computer science , environmental planning , environmental science , geography , political science , streams , computer network , archaeology , public administration , law
River and stream restoration projects are increasingly numerous but rarely subjected to systematic post‐project evaluation. The few such evaluation studies conducted have indicated a high percentage of failures. Thus, post‐project evaluation (and dissemination of results) is essential if the field of river restoration is to advance. Effective evaluation of project success should include: (1) Clear objectives , essential to identity potential incompatibilities among project objectives and to provide a framework for design of project evaluation. (2) Baseline data , needed as an objective basis for evaluating change caused by the project and encompassing as long a pre‐project period as possible (including a detailed historical study). (3) Good study design , to demonstrate the effects of restoration projects in the complex riverine environment. (4) Commitment to the long term , to detect effects evident only years following project completion; in general, monitoring should continue for at least a decade, with surveys conducted after each flood above a predetermined threshold. (5) Willingness to acknowledge failures , or rather to recognize that each restoration project constitutes an experiment, so that a failure can be just as valuable to the science as a success, provided we can learn from it (which requires objective, robust post‐project evaluation).