The Sustainable Rivers Project: A partnership between the Corps of Engineers and the Nature Conservancy

Launched in July 2002, the Sustainable Rivers Project (SRP) is a nation-wide partnership between the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers and The Nature Conservancy to improve the integrity and life of rivers by changing the operations of Corps. dams. The SRP is working towards this goal through a combination of demonstration projects, training, staff exchanges, and software development, all of which are designed to support innovative water management practices. The SRP currently involves work on nine river systems across the country, with two more under consideration. The nine river systems include the West in Vermont; the Ashuelot in New Hampshire; the Roanoke in North Carolina and Virginia; the Savannah in Georgia and South Carolina; the Big Cypress in Texas and Louisiana; the White, Black, and Little Red Rivers in Arkansas and Missouri; the Green in Kentucky; the Bill Williams in Arizona; and the Willamette in Oregon. This paper introduces the SRP, discussed its history, successes, and future plans. It is written and presented as part of an SRP session which also details ongoing efforts at two of the SRP sites - the Green and Bill Williams Rivers (in these proceedings, see Turner and Byron, and Evelyn and Hautzinger, respectively). Copyright ASCE 2006.