Michael Love and Associates, Inc. (MLA)
MLA is a small company founded in 1999 specializing in water resources engineering and environmental analysis within the areas of stream and estuary restoration, passage and protection of fish and other aquatic organisms, river hydraulics, watershed hydrology, and fluvial geomorphology. MLA is also a leader in developing tools and resources for providing guidance in the practice of fish passage and stream restoration.
Creating a muted tidal system and constructing new slough channels, salt marsh, and backwater habitats behind existing levees to establish a functioning estuary.
A geomorphic-based roughened channel eliminated the nearly five foot drop at this box culvert to improve upstream passage for adult and juvenile coho while providing pools for over-summering habitat.
A fishway provides passage for adult and juvenile salmonids while labyrinth weir spillway gates and removable summer weir panels provide accurate flow control to avoid backwatering the upstream flow measurement weir.
Replacing a barrier culvert with a new bridge to open up a pristine watershed to four salmonid species.
A roughened riffle creates an off-channel pond accessible to rearing coho salmon and migratory waterfowl.
Conceptual restoration plans for realigning and restoring a channelized stream.
Developing and maintaining the internationally recognized fish passage software, User Manual, Resource Library, and Case Studies for the US Forest Service
A pre-fabricated steel bridge to improve water quality and aquatic organism passage on this low gradient redwood forest stream.
Replacement of a barrier culvert and restoration of the channel provided access to valuable spawning and rearing habitat for these coho salmon.
Fish passage design and assessment workshops throughout California provide engineers and fisheries biologist with tools and resources to address barriers to aquatic organisms.
Coho, waterfowl, and ranching coexist with construction of this seasonal pond controlled by a roughened riffle and water control structure.
Providing aquatic organism passage using a stream simulation step-pool channel within a new corrugated metal culvert.
Developing plans to restore the productivity of this large slough at the mouth of California’s only major undammed river by controlling invasive reed canary grass and restoring access for coho salmon and coastal cutthroat trout.
Retrofit of an existing triple-bay box culvert involved lowering the culvert floor and constructing a pool and chute fishway to provide passage for adult and juvenile steelhead trout.
Planning restoration of a steep meadow stream to provide habitat for Lahontan cutthroat trout and protect water quality of Lake Tahoe.
Developing restoration designs for diked tidelands to reestablish productive aquatic habitat while accommodating existing land use, including a municipal golf course and cattle pasture.
Direct observations of fish passage attempts combined with measurements of corresponding hydraulic conditions over a three-year period supported changes to the National Marine Fisheries Service passage criteria.
Creating a muted tidal system and constructing new slough channels, salt marsh, and backwater habitats behind existing levees to establish a functioning estuary for a variety of marine and freshwater species.
Restoring a once vast wetland ecosystem connected to the Redwood Creek estuary.
Stream simulation culvert provides aquatic organism passage in one of the most important streams for recovery of endangered Central California coho salmon.
Geomorphic and engineering studies supported removal of this small dam, which blocked southern steelhead from accessing this wilderness stream in a remote corner of Central California.
Identifying adult steelhead exhaustion barriers and evaluating effectiveness of incorporating resting pools into a concrete floodway using a population-based fish energetics model integrated with a 2D hydrodynamic model.
A geomorphic and fish passage assessment of Gaviota Creek adjacent to Highway 101 characterizes channel incision due to channel realignments and describes effect of existing concrete drop structures on the native fisheries.
Multi-day workshops for the US Forest Service provide hands-on training in assessment and design of road-stream crossings for passage of aquatic organisms.
A unique and award winning “Vortex Weir Fishway” proved to be an effective solution for providing fish passage over a steep grade while conveying large flows and debris.
Developing alternatives for improving steelhead passage at low-water road-stream crossings.
A geomorphic-based roughened channel combined with woody-debris scour structures and bioengineering bank stabilization restores channel stability and function within this historically relocated and placer-mined stream.
Improving access for endangered Southern California steelhead form the ocean to the perennial canyons streams in the Cleveland National Forest.
Condensing projects to their useful essence, and emphasizing the application of general principles, the means used to address unique site conditions, and the lessons learned.
Roughened channel provides fish passage over an abandoned dam and into an impounded wetland that provides juvenile coho rearing habitat.
Geomorphic mapping of Gaviota Creek to identify restoration opportunities in this potential stronghold for endangered Southern California Steelhead.
Boulder step pools installed downstream of a box culvert in an urban watershed improve fish passage and provide habitat for coho salmon, steelhead, and coastal cutthroat trout.
A geomorphic-based roughened channel constructed of rock and large wood protects the upstream channel from incision and resulting instability while providing fish passage.
A stream simulation culvert replacement restores aquatic organism passage within this redwood forest stream in San Mateo County.
Geomorphic monitoring of a widening slough channel following construction of new self-regulating muted tide gates.
Michael Love and Associates, 2010
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