An Ecological Survey Report is an ecological analysis of water quality, aquatic ecosystems, endangered species, wetlands and terrestrial ecosystems. The separation of water quality and wetland ecosystems from aquatic ecosystems has its basis in both regulatory and functional reporting requirements.

The laws and regulations listed require that all proposed federally funded projects undergo studies to determine the impacts of their construction and operation. More specifically, they require analysis of the impacts on the natural environment with emphasis on certain special areas of concern, particularly endangered species, water quality, wetlands, flood plains and scenic rivers.

For projects involved in stream work, wetlands or significant amounts of new right-of-way, ecological surveys are performed to inventory the resources in the vicinity of the proposed project. These data are analyzed and an Ecological Survey Report is prepared. This report presents the data, interprets them and predicts impacts to the natural environment based on project design.