Watershed services
AMEC provides a comprehensive suite of services related to watershed planning, assessment and management. The services cover both institutional and technical needs for local governments, regional organizations, and private entities.
Services include water quantity, quality, and ecological aspects of local watersheds. The focus of our support to customers consists of these broad categories:
- Data collection and analysis
- Watershed and floodplain planning and management
- Institutional and public education services
- Regulatory compliance
Data Collection and Analysis
Whether your needs include water quantity collection, infrastructure inventories, water quality monitoring, topographic mapping, satellite imagery, GPS or GIS applications, ecological assessment, risk analysis, or wetland surveys, AMEC staff provide state-of-the-art services incorporating the latest technology and information.
Staff have completed such projects as:
- Satellite mapping of vegetation with Raster Recognition for an endangered species
- Multi-objective study
- Hand-held computer/ GIS/ GPS Integrated Stormwater Infrastructure Inventories for cities and counties
- Ecological Risk Assessments for numerous commercial and governmental customers
- Bio-assessments of streams and riparian corridors
- Wetlands mapping using GPS
- Water quality monitoring studies
- Stream gauging and real-time data collection
- Hydrographic surveys for flood studies
- Analyses of sediment accumulation in ponds and reservoirs
- Integration of Various Mapping Sources to Produce GIS Coverages and applications
- Complaint files and response systems
Watershed and floodplain planning and management
Planning and operating on a watershed-wide scale is an approach fast growing in popularity among local governments. Riparian corridor areas are becoming a focal point of action for many local governments in the face of increasing flooding and water quality problems, and public demand for recreational and aesthetic access to streams.
AMEC employees are experienced leaders in assisting local governments in all aspects of watershed and floodplain master planning. We have significant experience in the use of popular hydraulic, water quality, and hydrologic modeling packages, and have developed in-house modeling tools linked to GIS that provide an exceptional ability to automate data collection and reduction, perform model setup and execution, perform "what if" analysis, develop design solutions, assess water quality impacts, and perform a number of other important functions.
We have performed a wide variety of watershed master plans from the traditional hydrology and hydraulic planning inherent in a flood study, to the more complex and holistic considerations that are part of a comprehensive multi-objective watershed plan. We know how, to harness technology and explain it clearly, making it useful to concerned, but non-technical, citizen groups.
Services in watershed and floodplain planning and management include:
- Holistic watershed master planning
- Watershed assessments
- Flood studies and capital improvement plans
- Greenway and riparian corridor planning
- Floodplain planning and regulation
- Property acquisition, floodproofing and nonstructural floodplain management programs
- Multi-objective corridor planning
Institutional and public education services
Success in watershed planning and plan implementation often hinges not on technical merit, but on the ability to gain wide support for the plan among key stakeholders, and to implement the plan through a sound public education program and other key institutional factors.
AMEC employees are experienced in the development and implementation of master plans of many types, including flood hazard studies, planning studies, water quality plans, and comprehensive holistic watershed master plans. We have gained a clear understanding of local issues and local decision-making dynamics. We know how to bring a citizens group to consensus and build public and media support.
Regulatory compliance
AMEC provides a wide variety of regulatory compliance services to local government customers in support of watershed programs. AMEC is a leader in stormwater National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting and permit implementation having performed such services across the United States.