Introduction to Stream Restoration - Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments - page 256

Live and dead stout stake spacing
2 ft. o.c.

Cross section
Not to scale

Branch
cuttings

16-gage
wire

Live stake

Stream-forming flow

Base flow
Stream bed

Live
fascine
bundle

Live stake

Geotextile fabric

Dead stout stake
driven on 2-ft.
centers each way.
Minimum length
2 1/2 ft.

Dead stout stake

Wire secured
to stakes

Brush mattress

FIGURE 8.38 Brush mattress installation. (From NRCS, Streambank and shoreline protection. Chapter 16
in Engineering Field Handbook , Natural Resources Conservation Service. 1996a.) Note: Rooted/leafed condi-
tion of the living plant material is not representative at the time of installation.

8.4.26 r IparIan b uffer c reatIon /M aIntenance
The creation and subsequent maintenance of riparian buffers are often required where the riparian
zones have been degraded or eliminated, usually for protection via the removal of nutrients and
sediment loads (Mayer et al. 2005). Similarly, vegetated ilter strips are a commonly used BMP to
reduce nutrient and sediment loads to waterbodies. However, the riparian buffers provide a physi-
cal separation between adjacent areas, such as between areas of urban or agricultural development
and a river or a stream, and typically consist of higher-level plants (e.g., trees and shrubs) as well
as legumes or grasses. The riparian buffer system should typically include a multispecies buffer
area established on land next to a stream and plantings that stabilize the streambank and wetlands
constructed to absorb storm runoff.