Across the Gulf of Maine watershed, agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private parties are removing dams and replacing culverts to restore stream processes and fish passage. Significant resources are invested in these stream barrier removal projects, but monitoring the outcomes of the projects usually has not been a priority. The lack of standardized monitoring information for stream barrier removal projects in the Gulf of Maine watershed mirrors a lack of river restoration monitoring nationwide and limits both the ability to document project success and learn from past experiences. The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC) River Restoration Monitoring Steering Committee (Steering Committee) is addressing the need for consistent stream barrier removal monitoring. It has developed a framework of monitoring parameters that can be used for stream barrier removal projects throughout the Gulf of Maine watershed. The watershed covers approximately 70,000 square miles encompassing all of the state of Maine and portions of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec.

In June 2006, the Steering Committee convened a Stream Barrier Removal Monitoring Workshop to gather input on stream barrier removal monitoring from more than 70 natural resource scientists, resource managers, and watershed restoration practitioners. Structured breakout and plenary sessions generated priority lists of monitoring parameters specific to stream barrier removal in the Gulf of Maine watershed. From the prioritized lists, the Steering Committee selected eight parameters that, when analyzed collectively, are expected to provide valuable data that will characterize adequately the physical, chemical, and biological response of a given stream to a barrier removal project. These eight parameters, referred to in this document as critical monitoring parameters, include

• monumented cross-sections,
• longitudinal stream profile,
• stream bed sediment grain size distribution,
• photo stations,
• water quality,
• riparian plant community structure,
• macroinvertebrates, and
• fish passage assessment.

This Stream Barrier Removal Monitoring Guide (Monitoring Guide) presents detailed methods for each of the critical monitoring parameters except for macroinvertebrate and fish passage assessment. Because of the considerable variability associated with assessing these biological parameters, only general guidance is given here. The Monitoring Guide also presents important additional monitoring parameters that practitioners may choose to use on a case-by-case basis.