08/21/2026
It's here for the ARA and we were out doing some monitoring to collect baseline data in a river restoration site scheduled for next week. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) surveys are used by the ARA, and many other watershed groups, to collect physical habitat data that can help guide project site selection, it's also used to establish baseline conditions in the project site before any work begins and enable us to measure the changes through the project sites after restoration has been completed by comparing post-restoration data to the pre-restoration data.
The HSI surveys we complete have been tailored by the Nova Scotia Salmon Association to provide an index on physical habitat in relation to Atlantic Salmon and Brook Trout, two important native species in Nova Scotia. The data collected is fed into an excel sheet with various calculations to provide an index for Atlantic Salmon and Brook Trout habitat requirement through various stages f their freshwater life stages. Information collected includes floodplain and riparian zone data and watercourse details including measurements of the water depth, wetted and bankful widths, height of banks from water, substrate composition, water depths, spawning and pool area quality/quantity.
