How can I stop streambank erosion?
Streambank erosion is influenced by many factors including water velocity, flood frequency and flow, streamside vegetation, soils, sinuosity (how your stream bends and weaves through the landscape), gradient (how steep your stream is), and your specific location on the stream system. Bank erosion is a natural process that cannot be stopped. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Streams continually erode in some areas and deposit eroded material in others. Natural amounts of erosion are a necessary part of any healthy, productive stream, providing a consistent supply of salmon and trout spawning gravel. Bank erosion can often be predicted, and with good planning, we can minimize problems associated with bank erosion. By manipulating the factors that cause bank erosion we can reduce it in places where it is particularly troublesome. Removal of streamside vegetation almost always increases erosion. The single best thing people can to reduce and prevent excessive erosion is to leave existin
