North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative

North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative
Name	North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative
Formation	2016
Type	Nonprofit consortium
Headquarters	United States, Canada
Region served	North America

North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative

The North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative is a continental consortium focused on assessment and restoration of freshwater connectivity across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It maps barriers such as dams and culverts to support conservation planning for species like Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, and Great Lakes fish, and informs policy dialogues involving agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. The Collaborative synthesizes datasets from academic institutions including University of California, Davis, University of Minnesota, and McGill University and aligns with frameworks from organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, and International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Overview

The Collaborative integrates geospatial analysis, ecological modeling, and barrier inventories to evaluate longitudinal and lateral connectivity across river networks spanning basins like the Mississippi River, Columbia River, Mackenzie River, and Rio Grande. It produces continental-scale products that inform stakeholders such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad. Outputs are used by practitioners at agencies like the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and NGOs including American Rivers, Trout Unlimited, and Conservation International.

History and Development

The initiative emerged from collaborations among universities, federal agencies, and NGOs in the mid-2010s, building on legacy efforts such as the North American Breeding Bird Survey and basin-scale projects like the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. Founding partners included researchers from University of Washington, Oregon State University, and University of British Columbia, as well as technical staff from the U.S. Geological Survey and provincial ministries like British Columbia Ministry of Environment. Early workshops convened participants from multilateral fora such as the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation to standardize methods and share barrier inventories.

Goals and Objectives

Primary objectives are to map and prioritize barrier removals, support species recovery plans for taxa such as lake sturgeon, steelhead trout, and coho salmon, and to enable resilient watershed management under scenarios developed by groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Collaborative seeks to inform regulatory processes under statutes such as the Endangered Species Act (United States), the Species at Risk Act (Canada), and national habitat conservation strategies in Mexico. It also aims to advance science by linking to long-term monitoring programs such as the Long-Term Ecological Research Network and citizen science platforms like iNaturalist.

Methods and Data Sources

Analytical approaches combine hydrologic network modeling, barrier condition assessment, and species distribution models from institutions such as Stanford University and University of Texas at Austin. Core datasets include national inventories from the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), provincial datasets from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Mexican basin maps from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. The Collaborative leverages remote sensing from platforms like Landsat, Sentinel-2, and elevation models from United States Geological Survey to derive connectivity metrics, while validating results using field studies from partners like Palo Alto Research Center and museum collections such as the Smithsonian Institution.

Major Projects and Initiatives

Notable initiatives include continental barrier atlases covering the Great Lakes Basin, the Yukon River watershed, and transboundary segments of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo del Norte. Regional pilot projects have worked with state and provincial programs such as California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks to plan barrier removals and fish passage improvements. Collaborative technical products have supported restoration in high-profile efforts like the Penobscot River Restoration Project, dam removals at Elwha River, and tributary reconnections in the Lake Ontario watershed.

Partnerships and Funding

Partnerships span governmental bodies—National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fisheries and Oceans Canada—academic centers including Cornell University and University of Manitoba, and NGOs such as World Resources Institute and The Nature Conservancy. Funding sources include federal grants from agencies like the National Science Foundation, philanthropic support from foundations such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and international cooperation through mechanisms associated with the North American Development Bank and transboundary agreements involving the International Joint Commission.

Impact and Outcomes

Outcomes include standardized continental datasets that have influenced permitting decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and restoration prioritization by state agencies like the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Scientific outputs have been cited in peer-reviewed journals produced by publishers such as Springer Nature and Elsevier, and have supported recovery plans for species listed under the Endangered Species Act (United States) and the Species at Risk Act (Canada). Tangible conservation actions informed by the Collaborative include prioritized dam removals, fish passage retrofits, and improved monitoring networks adopted by municipal water authorities and Indigenous governments represented by organizations like the First Nations Summit.

Category:Environmental organizations Category:Conservation in North America