Stream Bank & Shoreline Protection

Streambank and Shoreline Protection is treatments are used to stabilize and protect banks of streams or constructed channels, and shorelines of lakes, reservoirs, or estuaries.  They prevent the loss of land or damage to land uses, or facilities adjacent to the banks of streams or constructed channels, shoreline of lakes, reservoirs, or estuaries including the protection of known historical, archeological, and traditional cultural properties. They maintain the flow capacity of streams or channels, reduce the offsite or downstream effects of sediment resulting from bank erosion and improve or enhance the stream corridor for fish and wildlife habitat, aesthetics, recreation.

This practice applies to streambanks of natural or constructed channels and shorelines of lakes, reservoirs, or estuaries where they are susceptible to erosion. It does not apply to erosion problems on main ocean fronts, beaches or similar areas of complexity.

General Criteria Applicable to All Purposes Treatments shall be in accordance with all applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations. Treatments applied shall seek to avoid adverse effects to endangered, threatened, and candidate species and their habitats, whenever possible. Treatments applied shall seek to avoid adverse effects to archaeological, historic, structural, and traditional cultural properties, whenever possible. An assessment of unstable streambank or shoreline sites shall be conducted in sufficient detail to identify the causes contributing to the instability (e.g. livestock access, watershed alterations resulting in significant modifications of discharge or sediment production, in channel modifications such as gravel mining, head cutting, water level fluctuations, boat-generated waves, etc.).

Proposed protective treatments to be applied shall be compatible with improvements being planned or installed by others. Protective treatments shall be compatible with the bank or shoreline materials, water chemistry, channel or lake hydraulics, and slope characteristics above and below the water line. End sections of treatment areas shall be adequately anchored to existing treatments, terminate in stable areas, or be otherwise stabilized to prevent flanking of the treatment. Protective treatments shall be installed that result in stable slopes.

Design limitations of the bank or shoreline materials and type of measure installed shall determine steepest permissible slopes. Designs will provide for protection of installed treatments from overbank flows resulting from upslope runoff and flood return flows. Internal drainage for bank seepage shall be provided when needed. Geotextiles or properly designed filter bedding shall be incorporated with structural measures where there is the potential for migration of material from behind the measure. Treatments shall be designed to account for any anticipated ice action, wave action, and fluctuating water levels.

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