Ecological Engineering

Ecological Engineering
NAWE provides a variety of ecological engineering services such as pollutant trading, wastewater recycling, non-point source controls and bioengineering designs that help our customers create sustainable infrastructure that balances the needs of the environment.

Learn More:
Feature Article: Constructed Wetlands: A Key to Habitat Creation and Water Quality Protection
Feature Article "Little Pond on the Prairie"

Stream Restoration
There's more to a stream than the rushing or meandering water. A stream is a complex and valuable ecosystem which includes the land, plants, animals, and network of streams within it. NAWE recognizes the value of stream corridors and has experience with many stream restoration technologies, including hybrid poplar buffer strips and floodplain restoration, stream restoration using root wads, timber cribbing, rotational grazing, and J-hooks.
Minnesota River/Rush River Restoration (Shakopee, Minnesota) NAWE has designed and constructed a number of innovative restoration projects including an area of over 140 acres of riparian area along the Minnesota River. Using poplar tree buffer strips, native prairie plantings and soil bioengineering, we were able to stabilize over 300 feet of severely eroding bank on Eight Mile Creek. With the installation of over one mile of high-tensile electric fencing to implement rotational grazing, and construction of eleven J-hooks, and a bank terrace, NAWE also successfully diminished severe eroding along a section of the Rush River.

Learn More
Feature Article: Pollutant Trading

Stormwater
Since the passage of the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has worked to preserve, protect and improve the nation's water resources through control of polluted stormwater runoff. NAWE has designed a number of stormwater abatement and management strategies including green roofs, rain gardens, porous pavement, retention and infiltration basins, and stormwater treatment wetlands that help our customers control polluted stormwater runoff.


Environmental Science & Permitting
NAWE provides a variety of environmental services to support our client's project needs, including habitat assessments, prairie restoration, wetland mitigation & banking, air pollution modeling, NPDES permitting, and preparation of Environmental Assessment Worksheets (EAWs), Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), and Alternative Urban Area-wide Reviews (AUARs).

Prairie Restoration
NAWE can provide comprehensive prairie restoration services including habitat assessment, seed drilling, herbicide management, mowing, monitoring studies and harvest of native seed sources. Through our relationship with Prairie Bay Farms, we can cold-stratify and germinate seed, and provide planting stock as plugs or 4-inch potted plants, if required by the project. NAWE has a number of successful restoration projects including the remediation of a former hazardous materials storage area at the British Petroleum Lima Refinery.

Backcountry
NAWE is experienced in providing potable and sanitary facilities in remote locations that do not have conventional utilities. We can provide planning, design, and operation services for waste management using composting toilets, graywater separation, evapotranspiration beds, drip irrigation, pit latrines, and portable toilets, depending on the frequency and amount of visitor use. If electricity is required, we can design solar-powered treatment facilities.

Boy Scouts of America
NAWE provided wastewater services to the Boy Scouts of America at all three national High Adventure bases Philmont Scout Ranch (Cimarron, New Mexico), Florida Sea Base (Islamorada, Florida), and Northern Tier Wilderness Canoe Base (Ely, Minnesota). NAWE's solutions are in sync with the environmental values held by the Boy Scouts and have enabled the organization to extend educational opportunities to thousands of campers every year.

Lutsen Sea Villas (Lutsen, Minnesota)
NAWE was responsible for the design, permitting and construction of a subsurface flow wetland and pressurized infiltration bed for 31 townhouse units at the Lutsen Sea Villas resort. The project replaced several failed septic systems in an ecologically sensitive area on Lake Superior's North Shore.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area (Grand Marais, Minnesota)
NAWE was responsible for the design, permitting and start up on an aerobic treatment unit, sand filter and drainfield located in an extremely ecologically sensitive area in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) along the U.S./Canada border for the Gunflint Lodge in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Effluent Reuse
Reuse of treated wastewater is fast becoming the norm for areas that have limited water supply or stringent discharge limits. NAWE stands out in the design of water reuse projects because of our expertise in both wastewater treatment and subsurface disposal systems. More importantly, NAWE is experienced in implementing reuse on a manageable scale, on projects were the wastewater generated on site can be reused on site.

United States Embassy (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
NAWE served as a process engineer responsible for the design of an onsite wetland treatment facility for effluent reuse at the new United States Embassy compound in the United Arab Emirates. The wetland system recycles all of the wastewater at the facility, and is a component of the Embassy's LEED certification.

Yarqon River Authority (Tel Aviv, Israel)
NAWE was also involved as a process consultant to evaluate the application of constructed wetland technology to upgrade the effluents of the Ramat Hsharon and Kfar Saba wastewater treatment plants in order to sustain a base flow in the Yarqon River of 1,200 m³/hour.