Aquatic Resources

Aquatic habitats play a vital role in the interaction between the natural environment and development. Municipal water systems, power generation, transportation, resource extraction, and land development projects often have an aquatic component that is critical to success. Often times the aquatic resource is itself the objective, requiring enhancement or rehabilitation to serve a specific beneficial purpose. Having a comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory requirements related to aquatic systems is essential to ensure a project’s objectives. Steigers Corporation possesses the expertise to facilitate a cooperative environment between our clients’ goals and regulatory agencies, resulting in a successful project.

Experience and Skills

Wetland Delineation & Permitting
Wetland Mitigation & Monitoring
Aquatic Vegetation Studies
Water Quality
Habitat Assessments
Fisheries

Riparian Assessments
Federal, State, Tribal, Local Regulatory Compliance
Bank Stabilization & Channel Rehabilitation
Stormwater Design & Permitting
Threatened & Endangered Species

Effective Solutions

Steigers’ staff has extensive experience in developing regulatory programs for clients with careful consideration for the complexity of environmental regulations associated with aquatic resources. Steigers maintains a diverse technical staff that are capable of completing baseline aquatic studies and a management staff that can formulate effective solutions in a client’s best interest.

Field Studies

Aquatic & terrestrial vegetation studies with species & community analysis
Species of concern evaluations as part of the NEPA process
Raptor surveys & protection/management plans for transmission line & various projects

Waterfowl surveys & population studies analyzing trends/population dynamics
Wildlife studies & the development of habitat enhancement plans

Biology in Practice

Steigers’ staff have extensive experience working on biological projects ranging from the development of wildlife habitat enhancement plans for private landowners to comprehensive biological evaluations for large-scale federally-funded transportation projects as part of an Environmental Impact Statement. Steigers provides exceptional biological services that are exemplified by our numerous long-term clients within the power generation, transportation, and development industries. Reputation and relationships are vital for the effective coordination of biological considerations with project development. Steigers maintains well-established relationships with numerous regulatory agencies that serve to benefit our clients and the planned management of the biological resources encountered during project development.

Threatened & Endangered Species Evaluations

Preliminary project evaluation
T&E species/habitat analysis
Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance
Regulatory agency consultation
Avoidance & impact minimization

Development of management plans & habitat conservation plans
Biological Opinions/Assessments
Species & habitat mitigation plans
Section 10 ESA permits

Fisheries Habitat, Species, & Population Evaluations

Fish population surveys & data analysis
Fish habitat surveys
In-stream habitat evaluations
Fish passage data analysis

Redd surveys & spawning/migration evaluations
Habitat restoration/enhancement feasibility & design
Electrofishing abundance-population studies

Biological Services

The technical field of Biological Resources includes a wide variety of disciplines that can have a significant influence on a property’s function or on planned project development. A solid understanding of the technical aspects of these disciplines and their corresponding roles within the regulatory climate is an essential component of providing comprehensive environmental consulting services. In addition, possessing the knowledge and experience to identify potential biological issues that may arise at an early stage in a project’s development is crucial to its success. Steigers Corporation maintains a staff of experienced biologists that have multi-disciplinary backgrounds working on projects within a wide variety of industries. This diverse expertise allows Steigers to provide the highest value biological review by taking into consideration the complexities of the living environment.

Experience and Skills

Aquatic & Terrestrial Ecological Inventories
Threatened & Endangered Species Evaluations
Wildlife Inventories & Habitat Enhancement Plans
Fisheries Habitat, & Population Evaluations
NEPA/MEPA Compliance Documents
Vegetation Sampling & Mapping

Reclamation Design & Monitoring
Raptor, Waterfowl, & Upland Bird Surveys
Wetland Delineation, Mapping, & Monitoring
Wetland Mitigation Design, & Construction
Noxious Weed Management Plans

Diversity of Knowledge

Steigers’ biologists have a diverse background ranging from aquatic ecology and botany to wildlife biology. From implementing baseline biological studies to expansive multi-year studies as a component of NEPA compliance, Steigers possesses the technical ability to provide biological services for wide-ranging projects in many environments. A diversity of knowledge is paramount when furthering clients’ goals in consideration of the natural environment.

Aquatic Evaluation

Steigers utilizes a specific, well tested process to complete a comprehensive evaluation for each project:
A complete evaluation of the project goals
Analysis to determine potential aquatic impacts
An on-site evaluation of aquatic resources

Comparison of project goals to existing aquatic resources
Integration of design/engineering to existing resources while considering impacts
Successful execution of environmental compliance

Aquatic Ecology in Practice

Steigers’ staff have worked on various aquatic projects ranging from fisheries database management, aquatic macrophyte studies, riparian assessments, and wetland studies to hydropower, transportation, mining, transmission, and a variety of other industrial development projects. These projects have varied in scale from small recreational improvements along a lake shore to multimillion dollar hydropower development projects that span a number of years. The diversity of projects that Steigers has successfully and efficiently completed is a testament to the staff’s high level of training and continued education associated with aquatic resources. Maintaining a specialization in the aquatic resources arena is a priority of Steigers and will remain a priority in the future.