• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

Conservation Science

Conservation Strategy - Conservation by Design

Conservation Methods

Partners of The Nature Conservancy

Conservation Initiatives

Case Studies

A freshwater stream flows into the Las Trancas valley
A freshwater stream flows into the Las Trancas valleyfrom melting snow in the central Andes of Chile.
© Mark Godfrey

Army Corps of Engineers Dam Operations
In 2002, The Nature Conservancy joined the Army Corps of Engineers in a collaborative national program called the Sustainable Rivers Project. We are working with the Corps to assess opportunities for modifying operations of 16 dams on 12 rivers to improve ecosystem health.

Case Studies: • Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina
• Green River, Kentucky

FERC Hydropower Dam Relicensing
We are encouraging adoption of the principles and concepts of ecologically sustainable water management in a number of FERC hydropower dam relicensing proceedings. Here’s one example:

Case Studies: • Roanoke River, North Carolina                   


Municipal and Regional Water Supply Planning
We are working with local governments across the U.S. and in other countries to demonstrate ways to meet growing water needs for human use while keeping rivers and estuaries healthy. Here are a couple of examples:

Case Studies: • Kiamichi River, Oklahoma                   
• Rivanna River, Virginia


Interstate Water Compacts and Allocations

  • Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin Compact
    We are working with many parties including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and three state governments (AL, FL, GA) in their efforts to develop an interstate water allocation formula for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin in the southeastern U.S.

    We published a scientific journal paper (.pdf, 361 kb) describing progress as of late 2003.
  • Delaware River Basin Commission
    The Eastern New York and Pennsylvania Chapters of The Nature Conservancy are working cooperatively with the Delaware River Basin Commission and other partners to implement the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Water Management in the Delaware Basin. This effort has included working with the basin states (NY, NJ, PA, and DE) and New York City (the largest basin diverter) to gain their commitment to an inclusive process for developing alternative water management strategies that will explicitly account for ecological needs. To this end, The Nature Conservancy will be deeply involved in the new Subcommittee on Ecological Flows created by the Delaware River Basin Commission to guide the development of ecologically-based flow recommendations for basin rivers. Over half a million dollars of federal funding is expected to support development of information on ecological flow needs and the process of defining options for more sustainable use of basin waters.

    The Delaware River Basin Commission's recent focus on protecting ecological integrity is apparent in the draft Water Resources Plan for the Delaware Basin and its efforts to inform basin flow management issues. The Nature Conservancy will also continue to work with a variety of partners, both directly and through the DRBC's Watershed Advisory Council, to ensure that conservation of ecological integrity is at the core of future watershed management strategies.

International Water Agreements

  • Great Lakes Charter Annex (Annex 2001)
    In 2001, the Governors and Premiers of the Great Lakes signed an Annex to the 1985 Great Lakes Charter. This agreement (known as Annex 2001) states an intent to develop a standard and binding legislation to guide future decisions on requests for water withdrawals and diversions from the Great Lakes Basin (www.cglg.org/1projects/water/overview.asp).

    The new standard will require that water development projects (withdrawals and diversions)
     
    • Prevent and minimize Basin water loss through return flow and water conservation measures,
    • Result in no significant adverse individual or cumulative impacts to the quantity or quality of the Waters and Water-Dependent Natural Resources of the Great Lakes Basin, and
    • Result in an improvement to the Waters and Water-Dependent Natural Resources of the Great Lakes Basin.

    As an advisory member to the Governors’ and Premiers’ Water Management Working Group, The Nature Conservancy is promoting the use of sound science in the water management decision-making process. Together with regional partners, the Conservancy is developing scientific methods to measure ecological impacts of water removals and diversions, and to direct ecological improvements to ensure protection of Great Lakes biodiversity. A proposed method was presented at a Great Lakes workshop on Ecologically Sustainable Water Management in Chicago, January 28-29, 2003. The Conservancy hosted this workshop with funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund. As an outcome of the workshop, the Conservancy is developing pilot projects to demonstrate how the proposed method to measure ecological impacts and improvements, could be used to implement the Annex 2001 decision-making standard.