Altered sediment and flow regimes in regulated rivers limit available spawning habitat for many fishes, especially salmonids. Mitigation efforts include spawning habitat rehabilitation and dam‐removal, but often neglect conceptual or predictive models of hydrogeomorphic and ecological processes. Complete restoration of processes necessary for maintaining spawning habitat is often unrealistic in regulated rivers. However, we present a framework for spawning habitat rehabilitation based on the premise that certain ecologic functions and geomorphic processes can be restored in a manner that facilitates testing of underlying scientific theories. SHIRA (Spawning Habitat Integrated Rehabilitation Approach) provides a science‐based, systematic framework for reach‐scale rehabilitation of salmonid spawning habitat in regulated rivers...