Environmental Services

Wetlands provide a variety of functional benefits to society, such as clean drinking water and flood attenuation, in addition to important biological functions such as fish and wildlife habitat. Federal and state agencies regulate impacts to wetlands with the goal of maintaining wetlands as an important resource to people and the environment.

Our scientists work with clients and regulators to avoid and minimize wetland impacts, which typically reduce project costs and streamline permitting efforts. In cases where mitigation is needed, we provide multidisciplinary design and monitoring services.

Our experts lead the way in Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) studies that include collaborating with interagency study teams to identify all flow related issues, focusing the study scope on applicable parameters, defining evaluation criteria, locating study sites and transects, gathering survey and hydraulic data, developing hydraulic and habitat models, analyzing model output, and preparing written reports and analyses.

We work closely with both the operator and interested stakeholders to successfully select flows that meet project objectives. Results of the model and its recommendations are incorporated into a project’s FERC license application, and also adopted as a tool to support other flow assessment issues in a particular river basin.

We perform and manage studies and analyses, and works with and/or for agencies, conservationists, and developers to mitigate or enhance diverse impacts on freshwater and estuarine and marine fisheries resources. Our expertise includes assessing the health of warm water, coldwater, anadromous and catadromous fish resources and endangered species, in riverine, lacustrine, and tidal environments.

Our clientele includes industry, private landowners, state and federal agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, and conservation groups. Kleinschmidt scientists frequently work on interdisciplinary teams that consist of engineers, permitters, other scientists and regulators using scientific data to solve aquatic resource issues.

Our biological and engineering staff have over 3 decades of experience in dealing with 316(a) and (b) issues. By integrating biological science, engineering, socioeconomics and regulatory skills, we provide ample technical expertise to meet the needs of the project.

We seek to define both resource issues and project constraints, helping to identify appropriate options for mitigating environmental impacts with the overall goal of developing project alternatives acceptable to both project proponents and regulatory authorities. We conduct the required studies as well as serve as peer reviewers.

Kleinschmidt provides rare, threatened, and endangered (RTE) species assessments for hydroelectric and other energy relicensing, decommissioning, and compliance projects. In recent years, we have completed RTE species studies and consultation for numerous projects over a wide geographic range for wildlife, fish, and plant species.

We have extensive experience with impact analyses. Typical issues that may need to be addressed include assessing the effects of water level fluctuations on RTE species such as birds, herptiles, mussels, fish and plants. We have executed studies that balance the requirements of multiple species simultaneously (e.g., effects of water levels on nest swamping or stranding, suitable spawning levels, and inundation requirements of plants).

For energy developers, we have developed avian protection plans for birds and bats for issues related to new development (e.g., tree clearing) and operations (e.g., effect on raptors of perching on transmission lines).