Science, Service, and Solutions for Rivers and Watersheds
Sustainable Streams, LLC is a specialized environmental and civil engineering consulting firm headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, focused on river and watershed systems. Founded on an interdisciplinary academic framework, it provides stream restoration, wetland restoration, stormwater management, watershed planning, monitoring and modeling, and floodplain rehabilitation services across the eastern and midwestern United States. It is licensed as an engineering company in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, and Washington, and its principal, Dr. Robert J. Hawley, holds PE registration in all five states. Projects include stream daylighting, low-head dam mitigation, floodplain wetland creation, bioretention, and bioswale design for municipal sewer districts, conservation districts, metroparks, and state agencies.
Licensed Engineering Company - Georgia (007229) · Licensed Engineering Company - Kentucky (3111) · Licensed Engineering Company - Ohio (03758) · Licensed Engineering Company - Texas (20464) · Licensed Engineering Company - Washington (21017059)
Robert J. HawleyDirector / Principal Scientist
Katherine R. MacMannisBusiness Manager / Project Manager
Kurt A. CooperCivil Engineer / Project Manager
Nora L. KorthEnvironmental Engineer / Project Manager
Abi E. RaetzEnvironmental Engineer / Design Engineer
Sarah M. WallentineEnvironmental Engineer / Design Engineer
Peter M. TowerTechnology Scientist / Project Manager
Design and construction of rock riffles, log vanes, rootwads, boulder clusters, and engineered structures to restore channel stability, fish passage, habitat, and bank protection.
Return of buried or combined-sewer streams to natural channel form within urban nature preserves and neighborhoods.
Gently sloped rock riffles that restore fish passage and improve recreational safety at existing low-head dams.
Bank armoring, vegetation, and riffle structures to protect eroding streambanks and sewer or utility infrastructure.
Off-channel and floodplain wetland design for nutrient and sediment load reduction, peak flow attenuation, and habitat creation.
Removal of post-settlement alluvium and reservoir rehabilitation to create wetland complexes that attenuate peak flows and assimilate nutrient and sediment pollution.
Reconnection of disconnected floodplains to restore hydrologic and habitat function, including off-channel fish habitat.
Green infrastructure design including bioswales, bioretention, campus stormwater naturalization, catch basin retrofits, and native meadow restoration.
Step-pool bioswales and bioretention BMPs for stormwater quality enhancement, channel protection, and flood control.
Transformation of conventional detention basins into stream and wetland complexes with swale rehabilitation and native plantings.
Watershed-scale planning including floodplain restoration strategies, sewer separation, green infrastructure programming, and community engagement.
Hydrologic and geomorphic monitoring, post-construction performance assessment, and experimental research on stream and floodplain systems.
Planning and design to protect public infrastructure assets such as sanitary sewers, water mains, and utilities from streambank erosion and channel instability.
Stormwater & Flood Control · Water Resources · Environmental & Remediation · Government · Parks & Open Space
Cincinnati, OH · Stormwater & Flood Control · Client: Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati
~5,700 feet of daylighted stream, park creation, and urban renewal in a historically underserved neighborhood. Watershed-scale restoration saved an estimated $170M relative to the sewer storage tunnel alternative while mitigating Cincinnati's largest combined sewer overflow.
Cincinnati, OH · Stormwater & Flood Control · Client: Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati
~3,200 feet of daylighted stream in a nature preserve using native limestone creek rock to revive a stream buried in a combined sewer for over 100 years, with a constructed wetland for water quality filtration.
Williamsburg, OH · Water Resources · Client: Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District
Removal of post-settlement alluvium combined with rehabilitation of a former water supply reservoir to create an off-channel wetland complex attenuating peak flows and assimilating nutrient and sediment pollution upstream of Harsha Lake.
Owen County, KY · Natural Resources · Client: Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
~8,900 feet of stream restoration and over 3,000 feet of preservation in a Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources wildlife management area.