Land and water management agencies are responsible for restoring and conserving our nation's natural resources. However, they face increasing, often competing demands for those resources, which can result in alteration or loss of critical riverine, riparian, wetland, and terrestrial habitats. Land and resource managers may be in federal, state, or local government, but all have the same need for quantitative, objective, science-based information that helps them plan, manage, and conserve the natural resources within their purview.
The Aquatic Systems and Technology Applications Branch (ASTA) of the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) encompasses a wide variety of studies, investigations, and activities that are related to providing tools and capabilities for natural resource managers. ASTA's mission is to provide managers with credible science-based information on the interrelationships among the physical, chemical, aquatic, and biological natural resources in river basins for resource management decision-making. Branch goals are to:
- develop and apply specific models and analysis tools for resource management issues,
- identify habitat and biological linkages in river corridor environments,
- design and evaluate specific water quality improvement features,
- define economic measures for natural resource benefits,
- investigate altered flow regime effects on native fish populations,
- characterize sediment transport effects in river corridor environments, and
- utilize advanced technology to evaluate landscape-scale changes in river basins.
