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NRCS reviews and periodically updates conservation practice standards. To obtain the current

version of this standard, contact your Natural Resources Conservation Service State office or

visit the Field Office Technical Guide online by going to the NRCS website at

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ and type FOTG in the search field.

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Natural Resources Conservation Service

CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARD

STREAM HABITAT IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT

CODE 395

(ac)

DEFINITION

Improve, restore, or maintain the ecological functions of a stream and its adjacent floodplain and riparian

area.

PURPOSE

This practice is used to accomplish one or more of the following purposes:

• Improve or manage stream habitat by evaluating and addressing factors that impair stream function

and structure.

CONDITIONS WHERE PRACTICE APPLIES

All streams and their associated backwaters, floodplains, wetlands, and riparian areas with impaired

habitat.

This practice does not apply to— 

• The management of fish and wildlife habitat on wetlands enhanced under this standard. 

• Streambed or bank stabilization; instead, use Conservation Practice Standard (CPS) Streambank

and Shoreline Protection (Code 580), or CPS Channel Bed Stabilization (Code 584).

This practice may be used in conjunction with other practices to address multiple resource concerns at the

site. 

CRITERIA

General Criteria Applicable to All Purposes

Use this practice to assess, evaluate, and prescribe a comprehensive plan for stream habitat

improvement, including the use of associated practices to address functionally connected floodplains and

wetlands. 

Planned stream habitat improvements must—

• Be applied within the context of the overall watershed conditions and with clear objectives for

stream habitat management goals.

• Be based on a site-specific assessment of local hydrology, channel morphology, geomorphic

setting, fish and other aquatic species present, riparian area and floodplain conditions, and any

habitat limitations including streamflow conditions, water quality, food supply, and restriction on

upstream and downstream movement of aquatic species, as determined using the NRCS Stream

Visual Assessment Protocol, Version 2 (SVAP2) or comparable State-approved aquatic habitat

evaluation tool.
• When applied, results in a conservation system that addresses specific habitat objectives and

meets or exceeds the minimum planning criteria for stream and aquatic habitat established in

Section III of the Field Office Technical Guide. 

• Design in-stream structures to be compatible with the dynamic nature of streams and rivers,

facilitate natural geomorphic recovery where possible, and minimize disruption of recreational and

other traditional uses of the stream corridor.

• Use acceptable design methodologies and criteria for in-stream structures. Coordinate with Statelevel technical experts to determine design methodologies applicable to your State or area.

• Enable adjoining floodplain and riparian areas to support a diverse vegetation community suitable

for the site conditions and desired ecological benefits to the greatest extent possible. 

• Use native plant materials in project installations to the maximum extent possible.

• Manage livestock to sustain a healthy stream corridor and associated habitats.

Structures installed for the purposes of this standard must not—

• Impede or prevent passage of fish and other aquatic organisms, unless they are intended to isolate

populations of native species of conservation concern as directed by State or Federal species

management plans or similar guidance.

• Cause unintentional lateral migration, aggradation, or degradation of the channel. 

• Hinder channel-floodplain interactions.

CONSIDERATIONS

Restore or maintain stream habitat and channel-forming processes such as natural flow regime, meander

migration, sediment transport, recruitment and storage of large wood, and stream interactions with the

floodplain.

Incorporate riparian buffers to facilitate channel-forming processes, as well as encourage activities that

promote riparian function to provide stream temperature moderation, recruitment of in-stream large wood

and fine organic matter, input of riparian nutrients, habitat for terrestrial insects and other riparian

dependent species, streambank integrity, and filtration of contaminants from surface runoff (see CPSs

Riparian Forest Buffer (Code 391) and Riparian Herbaceous Cover (Code 390)). 

Project design should consider risks resulting from adjustment of in-stream structures. Habitat objectives

can be met as structures transition or change over time; however, consider potential damage and resulting

effects on offsite property, public infrastructure, and human safety from structure movement. 

Specific measures that should be considered either singularly or in combination to improve stream habitat

include—

• Providing aquatic organism passage upstream and downstream to the extent possible and when

compatible with State and Federal species recovery or management objectives (see CPS Aquatic

Organism Passage (Code 396)).

• If possible, locating stream crossings in areas with the least effect on stream geomorphic function

or aquatic habitat.

• Providing screens on water pumps, diversion ditches, or any areas that are within the landowner’s

control, where unintentional entrainment of aquatic species is likely to occur .

• To the greatest extent possible, maintaining adequate in-stream flows to sustain diverse habitats for

fish and other aquatic species, especially during critical life-history stages.

• Maintaining natural surface water, hyporheic, and groundwater interactions to the extent possible.

• Improving floodplain-to-channel connectivity for development of seasonal or permanent backwater,

wetland, and off-channel habitats consistent with the local climate and stream hydrology. 

• Restoring stream and riparian area function by utilizing natural materials and methodologies such

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as, but not limited to, flexible wood placement (unanchored, unpinned), beaver habitat restoration,

spawning riffles, and boulder complexes where and when practical and feasible. 

• Restoring or protecting riparian area and floodplain vegetation and associated riverine wetlands.

• If planting in adjoining floodplains and riparian areas, selecting plants that provide pollen and nectar

for pollinators. Maximizing plant diversity in riparian areas can result in increased populations of

pollinators and other terrestrial insects upon which fish feed. 

• Controlling the spread of exotic plant and animal species to the greatest extent possible. 

• Reducing or managing excessive runoff due to watershed development, road construction, or landuse activities that are within the landowner’s control. 

• Adjusting stream management actions to address the timing, intensity, frequency, and duration of

recreation, grazing, planting, fertilizing, watering, or resource removal activities for the improvement

and maintenance of stream and associated floodplain and riparian area habitat.

• Integrating other closely related practices to develop a comprehensive and multidisciplinary plan for

the project site. 

PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS

Develop plans and specifications for each site to implement stream habitat management and

improvement actions. 

As a minimum, plans must include— 

• Goals and objectives of the planned actions.

• A site description, including survey data that depict existing conditions and illustrate proposed

changes to a subject reach’s dimension, pattern, and profile. 

• Data that characterize the structure and composition of the streambed and banks.

• Design drawings and job sheets that document quality, quantity, placement, dimensions, and

elevations of structures, including installation timing and location. 

• All facilitating practices including their respective specifications and their operation and

maintenance requirements.

• The dates and sequencing for improvements or management actions. 

• If planting is a component of the project, include a vegetation planting plan that identifies species,

stocking rates, planting dates, care of seed or other plant materials, acceptable rate of survival,

replanting requirements; alternatively, use specifications outlined within the facilitating and

component practices. 

• Incorporation of permit requirements, if any, into the specifications, design, and operation and

maintenance requirements of the practice.

• Responsible party for collecting any post-construction survey data.

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

Develop a detailed operation and maintenance plan for all applications that details periodic inspection and

prompt repair or modification of any structures that are not meeting design objectives. 

Provide monitoring guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of the conservation actions in the short- and

long-term. 

Conduct postproject evaluation of stream and riparian habitat conditions using the same preproject

evaluation tool (e.g., SVAP2, or other) to determine if the implemented actions have resulted in improved

habitat or have fully addressed resource concerns. 

Coordinate any needed repair actions in order to comply with State and Federal guidelines for protecting

aquatic and terrestrial species.

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REFERENCES

Bureau of Land Management. 1998. Riparian Area Management: A User Guide to Assessing Proper

Functioning Condition and the Supporting Science for Lotic Areas. TR-1737-15.

Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group (FISRWG). 1998, revised October 2010.

National Engineering Handbook, Part 653, Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes and

Practices. 

Gregory, S V., K.L. Boyer, and A.M. Gurnell, editors. 2003. The Ecology and Management of Wood in

World Rivers. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 37. Bethesda, MD.

USDA NRCS. 1998. The Practical Streambank Bioengineering Guide.

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/idpmcpu116.pdf. Accessed

October 23, 2018.

USDA NRCS. 2002. Streambank Soil Bioengineering Field Guide for Low Precipitation Areas. 

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/idpmcpussbfglpa.pdf.

Accessed October 23, 2018.

USDA NRCS. 2004. National Biology Handbook, Aquatic and Terrestrial Habitat Resources.

USDA NRCS. 2008. National Engineering Handbook, Part 654, Stream Restoration Design.

USDA NRCS. 2009. National Biology Handbook, Part 614, Subpart B, Stream Visual Assessment

Protocol, Version 2.

USDA NRCS. 2010. National Engineering Handbook, Part 653, Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles,

Processes, and Practices.

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