Diverse Natural System Design and Restoration

To correct artificial barriers limiting fish passage, Otak addresses injunctions requiring the unblocking or replacement of culverts with better regulated deigns. We identify stormwater runoff’s effect on water quality and monitor improperly treated urban waste water to mitigate pollution, and we preserve fish migration patterns within their natural ecosystems by reconstructing streambeds. As climate change alters river temperatures, they must be stabilized, so we alter stream lengths, encouraging habitation.

Otak protects the health of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems by stabilizing and repairing waterways. Process-based analyses allows expert Otak engineers to work effectively with what already exists. By using restorative techniques that address project-specific impairments, we accomplish major goals such as reducing downstream sedimentation. Otak’s interdisciplinary approach accounts for what has been happening, what is happening, and what will happen to offer comprehensive solutions for stream and river restoration.

Wetlands mitigate floods, provide animals and plants habitation, and control water quality, but they have sustained area losses. Since little can be done about the soil itself, we have to focus on what we can control: hydrology and vegetation. Working with landscape architects and combining scientific scoring methodology with design and engineering, Otak develops a complex community of plant species and waterways that facilitate the healthy growth of wetlands.