Aquatic Connectivity Assessment and Prioritization Tool
The North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) is a network of individuals from universities, conservation organizations, and state and federal natural resource and transportation agencies focused on improving aquatic connectivity across a 13-state region, from Maine to West Virginia. It has developed common protocols and training for assessing road-stream crossings (culverts and bridges) and developed a regional database for storing and displaying the aquatic organism passability score derived from this field data. The information collected will be used to identify high-priority bridges and culverts for upgrade and replacement. The NAACC has created a subwatershed prioritization map to help focus survey efforts in the project area, as well as a customizable prioritization tool for use with ArcGIS Desktop.
The NAACC supports planning and decision making by providing information about where restoration projects are likely to bring the greatest improvements in aquatic connectivity.