Civiltech’s Nature-based Solutions (NbS) team offers our clients a nature-led, nature-based design approach to their civil site, transportation, and natural resource planning, design, and construction needs. The NbS team provides Natural and Nature-Based Feature (NNBF) design, implementation, and post-construction maintenance and monitoring (M&M) services.
Laying the Groundwork
Civiltech’s NbS team believes that understanding the existing conditions and natural resources of a site and its adjacent sites are critical to successful planning, design, and implementation. Analysis begins with a detailed desktop review of available resources. Along with specific site characteristics and project objectives provided by our clients, a holistic review of a site’s natural resources and position in the landscape is conducted. Sources of a site that impact a site directly and indirectly are identified, often in terms of stormwater and natural resources. By identifying these sources, NbS solutions are integrated incrementally from the source to the outfall point. 
Designing with Nature
Civiltech’s NbS team spends extensive time in the field immersed in natural resources, analyzing and monitoring vegetation, hydrology, and soil conditions all through the growing season. In design, this knowledge and experience is used to select adjacent reference sites for data collection, all of which help guide NNBF designs. The designs mimic the successes in nature on a small ecological scale to improve survivability and promote sustainability of our projects. Focusing on NNBF functions that are site specific, our designs enhance existing or adjacent features or restore and create more effective and attainable features. This approach has proven to be highly effective, cost-effective, and sustainable Nature-based Solutions.
From Design to Reality 
Careful planning and design are critical; however, construction is equally important in the success of NbS and NNBFs. Native plantings, naturalized grading, in-stream structures, naturalized shorelines, and other applications of biomimicry in stormwater management require specialized construction practices. Civiltech’s NbS team provides construction observation services and works directly with clients and contractors as NNBFs are installed. Civiltech’s NbS work is not complete when the plantings are installed. After planting, the critical phase of Maintenance and Monitoring (M&M) begins.
As seed mixes, plugs, and saplings arrive at a construction site, the team will not only review for the specified species and the plant health, but will also consider soil conditions, drainage patterns, and other real-time on-site conditions for proper placement and layout. The team ensures that plantings are watered when delivered, that they are planted immediately, and that they are planted properly. 
Ensuring Success
Planning for M&M begins in the design and permitting phase. Working with regulators to design an M&M Plan that meets regulatory objectives is typically required before permits are issued or construction is authorized. An M&M Plan involves developing an instructional document that outlines the requirements and performance standards, as well as the milestones, goals, and objectives of the project and plan. Monitoring services typically involve seasonal scheduled field visits to check that plants and structures are surviving and functioning. Maintenance services typically involve implementing on-site activities that will keep the post-construction development on track to meet regulatory performance standards. Depending on the purpose and need of the project and the specific NNBF function, M&M may be required for 3-years, 5-years, or even 7-years for ecologically sensitive sites. A detailed M&M plan is a crucial investment for the long-term success of a project, as the risks of failure can be costly.