Photo of a fishing rod near the lake.
Adobe Stock
The American Fisheries Society (AFS) will assist the Instream Flow Council in building a new training, research, and development center to support instream flow and water level conservation.
Until the year 2000, the US Department of Interior's Cooperative Instream Flow Service Group served as an information center, providing support and leadership to all stakeholders involved in water use, conservation, and management. For this reason, the Council and AFS agreed to launch this initiative.
Later in 2023, the Council, in cooperation with AFS established a Steering Committee, which recommended a centralized network model with staff at a central location and regional trainers.
According to both entities, the new center should integrate multiple disciplines and offer state-of-the-art services to meet the needs of fish agencies and other stakeholders in water management.
Also, the Committee has suggested a central location, and several trainers operating on a regional basis.
The Instream Flow Council has been working since 1998 with state, provincial, and territorial fish and wildlife agency programs to promote the conservation of instream flow and water levels for the productivity of aquatic flora and fauna and other ecological functions in freshwater and estuarine habitats.
Among these programs are flood mitigation, groundwater recharge, navigation, biological productivity, nutrient transport and recycling, pollution attenuation, energy generation, water supply, and recreational, commercial, and subsistence opportunities such as fishing, hunting, boating, and wildlife viewing.
The American Fisheries Society (AFS) is the world's oldest and largest fisheries science society. Founded in 1870, its mission is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals.
In May 2023, AFS denounced that fisheries, water quality, and human health were at risk after the US Supreme Court decided to remove federal safeguards for most of the nation's wetlands.