Isle Of Wight Stream
Corridor Assessment Survey


The first step in developing a Restoration Action Strategy for the Isle of Wight Watershed is to do an overall assessment of the condition of the watershed and the streams within it. This initial step is being accomplished using two approaches. First, a watershed characterization was done that compiles and analyzes existing water quality, land use, and living resources data about the Isle of Wight watershed (Shanks, 2001). While the watershed characterization provides good overall information on environmental conditions within the Isle of Wight watershed, for the most part, information on the location of specific environmental problems is limited. To provide specific information on the present location of environmental problems and restoration opportunities, a Stream Corridor Assessment (SCA) survey of the Isle of Wight Bay Watershed was also done.

The Stream Corridor Assessment survey is a new survey that has been developed by DNR’s Watershed Restoration Division as a watershed management tool to identify environmental problems and helps prioritize restoration opportunities on a watershed basis. As part of the survey, specially trained personnel walk the watershed’s entire stream network and record information on a variety of environmental problems that can be easily observed within the stream corridor. The SCA survey of the Isle of Wight watershed was done over a 5-month period from January through April 2001.

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