Reimagining Blue: Innovative Approaches to Waterbody Restoration

Chosen theme: Innovative Approaches to Waterbody Restoration. Welcome to a hopeful, hands-on journey where science, culture, and nature work together to revive rivers, lakes, wetlands, and urban canals—and where your voice and actions truly matter.

Nature-Based Solutions That Heal the Shoreline

Living shorelines that grow stronger with time

Blending native vegetation, biodegradable coir logs, and shell reefs creates shorelines that dissipate wave energy, trap sediment, and nurture habitat. Unlike concrete walls, they adapt, self-repair, and invite crabs, fry, and birds back home.

Beaver dam analogs as humble hydrologists

Simple, hand-built structures mimic beaver dams to slow water, raise groundwater, and rebuild wetlands. Crews report immediate improvements in late-season flows, cooler temperatures, and songbirds returning where the channel once ran straight and fast.

Reconnecting floodplains to breathe again

Lowering banks and removing levee pinch points lets rivers spill safely into floodplains, storing floods, recharging aquifers, and reducing downstream damage. Communities often report clearer water, revived fisheries, and new nature paths for weekend walks.

Bioremediation: Let Life Do the Heavy Lifting

Specialized bacteria break down hydrocarbons, nitrates, and even some pesticides when given the right conditions. Practitioners seed inoculants on gravel or woodchips, then watch nutrient spikes mellow as food webs rebuild from the microbial base upward.

Bioremediation: Let Life Do the Heavy Lifting

Cattails, bulrush, and willows uptake nutrients and stabilize sediments while providing habitat. Choosing local genotypes improves resilience, reduces maintenance, and invites dragonflies back—nature’s little biocontrol partners patrolling for mosquitoes at dusk.

Community and Culture at the Water’s Edge

Collaborations that follow Indigenous protocols often protect spawning runs and sacred plants while honoring water’s legal and spiritual rights. These relationships anchor projects beyond grant cycles, strengthening continuity, accountability, and cultural healing.

Smarter dam removals with staged sediment release

Phased drawdowns, sediment traps, and real-time monitoring reduce turbidity pulses and protect downstream habitat. Case studies show salmon recolonization within months, while recreational economies rebound with safer channels and newly accessible river stretches.

Learn More

Floating treatment wetlands that travel with the breeze

Modular rafts planted with natives create mobile biofilters, polishing nutrients and offering shade and refuge for juvenile fish. They are quick to deploy, photogenic for public buy-in, and adjustable as shorelines evolve over seasons.

Learn More

Targeted capping for legacy contaminants

Thin-layer caps using activated carbon isolate buried pollutants without wholesale dredging. Paired with habitat enhancements, they stabilize sediments, cut bioaccumulation, and avoid disruptive sediment disposal logistics that can stall projects for years.

Learn More

Restoration for a Warmer, Wilder Climate

Scenario planning with predictive models

Watershed models and AI help stress-test designs across multiple futures. Teams pick interventions that succeed under drought, deluge, and heat, reducing regrets and keeping restoration investments productive through uncertainty.

Cool water refuges through riparian shade

Dense riparian canopies, cold-water inflows, and groundwater seeps create thermal refuges that sustain trout, mussels, and macroinvertebrates. Strategic plantings deliver quick wins while long-term forest structure locks in durable temperature stability.

Blue carbon and wetland renewal

Rebuilt wetlands store carbon, buffer floods, and filter nutrients—triple benefits that attract funding and community support. When tracked transparently, carbon gains can unlock credits that help finance ongoing stewardship and monitoring.