Instream Flow Incremental Methodology

A science-based habitat evaluation technique that is a quantitative environmental assessment procedure that describes how habitat quantity and quality change over a range of physical conditions, such as stream flows or impoundment surface elevations. The term refers to a relatively large number of assessment methods. The most important aspect of these techniques is that they involve an analytical framework that considers the tradeoffs between multiple ecological processes and resource management objectives and evaluates a range of flow options over a continuum of hydrologic conditions.