Induced Meandering, an Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our latest publication!

Taken from Back Cover:
"Let the Water Do the Work" is an important contribution to riparian restoration. By `thinking like a creek,' one can harness the regenerative power of floods to reshape stream banks and rebuild floodplains along gullied stream channels. Induced Meandering is an artful blend of the natural sciences - geomorphology, hydrology and ecology - which govern channel forming processes. Induced Meandering directly challenges the dominant paradigm of river and creek stabilization by promoting the intentional erosion of selected banks while fostering deposition of eroded materials on an evolving floodplain. The river self-heals as the growth of native riparian vegetation accelerates the meandering process. Anyone with an interest in natural resource management in these uncertain times should read this book and put these ideas to work. Let's go with the flow!

BILL ZEEDYK, innovator of the Induced Meandering concept and principal author of this book, brings a lifetime of experience in natural resource conservation to the practice of river, wetland and riparian restoration. Upon retiring from the U.S. Forest Service with thirty-four years experience in habitat management, Bill founded a small consulting business with the mission of motivating others by developing and advancing simple techniques for healing incised streams and gullied wetlands. He has prepared training materials and conducted numerous hands-on workshops involving professionals, laymen, and volunteers alike. His methods have been adopted by federal, state, and tribal agencies, landowners and conservation organizations, and acclaimed by teachers, scientists, and practitioners in the field.



VAN CLOTHIER, is involved in stream, wetland, and water harvesting projects all over New Mexico and Southeast Arizona. He has a degree in physics from the University of California and is a student of Dr. David Rosgen. Van has been an apprentice of Bill Zeedyk since 2003 and his company, Stream Dynamics, Inc., provides consultation and on-the-ground work for water harvesting earthworks, stream and arroyo improvement, erosion control, and road maintenance.



Contents:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

• STABLE RIVERS AND FLOODPLAINS
• INDUCED MEANDERING
• INCISED CHANNELS
  • Causes of Channel Incision
  • Reasons for Keeping a Channel Incised
  • Historic Impacts
  • Sidebar: Acequias and Irrigation Diversions
• PRESENT AND CONTINUING IMPACTS
  • Impacts of Urbanization
  • Transportation System Impacts
  • Entering a Modern Era
• SHORT TERM CURES - LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES
  • Check Dams and Gabion Baskets
  • Streambank Armoring
  • Gully Plugs
• THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS
• ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF INDUCED MEANDERING

CHAPTER 2: RIVERS AND FLOODPLAINS

• INTRODUCTION
• NATURAL STREAM FUNCTION
  • Discharge
  • Energy Dissipation
  • Roughness
  • Sidebar: Manning's Equation
  • Erosion
  • Sediment transport
• MEANDERING
• STRATIFIED ALLUVIUM
• STREAM POWER
• THE CRITICAL ROLE OF VEGETATION
  • Uplands Vegetation
  • Grazing in Riparian Areas
  • Riparian Ecology - Nature's Water Economy
• DOMINANT DISCHARGE AND THE BANKFULL CHANNEL
  • Regional Curves
  • Flowing Through the Centuries
  • Cross Sectional Area and the Continuity Equation
• FLOODPLAIN PROCESSES AND BANKFULL
• NATURAL CHANNEL FORMATION AND STABILITY
• GEOMORPHIC CHANNEL FEATURES
  • Cross Section
  • Plan View
  • Longitudinal Profile
• SUMMARY

CHAPTER 3: STREAM CLASSIFICATION

• INTRODUCTION
• MORPHOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
• THE ROSGEN STREAM CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
  • Rosgen Level I Survey Assessment: Reading the Landscape
  • Valley types
  • Channel types
  • Rosgen Level II Survey and Classification
  • Entrenchment ratio
  • Width to depth ratio
  • Sinuosity
  • Slope
  • Channel bed material
  • Other designations
• DRYLAND STREAMS ARE DIFFERENT
  • Evaporative Loss
  • Transmission Loss
  • The Dominance of Bankfull Discharge in the Drylands
  • An arroyo flows through time
  • Sidebar: Will the Real Thalweg Please Stand Up?
  • Seasonality of Flood Events
  • The Hammock Effect
  • Ciénegas - Wetlands Unique to the Desert
• TECHNIQUES OF FIELD SURVEY
  • Channel Morphology Data Sheet
  • Research, Mapping, and Calculations
  • In the Field
  • Bankfull Indicators
  • The difficulty with determining bankfull in the field
  • Surveying Basics
  • Longitudinal profile survey
  • Plan view survey
  • Cross section survey
  • Channel bed material - pebble count
  • Display of Data
  • Data Calculations
  • Interpretation of the Survey Data
• SUMMARY

CHAPTER 4: INCISED CHANNELS, CHANNEL EVOLUTION AND INDUCED MEANDERING

• INTRODUCTION
• INCISED CHANNELS
  • Bank Height Ratio
  • Natural Recovery
  • Abandoned Channels
  • Hydrology and Ecology
• CHANNEL EVOLUTION AND INDUCED MEANDERING
  • Decreased Shear Stress on Channel Bed
  • Sidebar: Natural Stream Channel Evolutionary Sequences Representative of Dryland Streams
  • Flood Events
  • Low Flow Periods
  • Belt Width - A Threshold for Evolutionary Change?
• INDUCED MEANDERING
  • Structures
  • Results
  • Targeting Specific Eroding Banks
  • Raising the Bed
  • Induced Meandering for Gullies in Small Watersheds
• SUMMARY

CHAPTER 5: STRUCTURES, PRACTICES, AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

• INTRODUCTION
• LATERAL CONTROL
  • Baffles
    • Rock and boulder baffle
    • Picket baffle
    • Picket and rock baffle
    • Whole tree baffle
    • Material estimation
  • Vanes
    • Post vane
    • Post vane installation with machinery
    • Boulder vane
    • Log vane
    • Manipulation of Vegetation
  • Sidebar: Willow Planting Protocol
• VERTICAL CONTROL
  • Weirs
    • Wicker weir
    • Boulder weir
  • One rock dam
  • Tree length log mat
  • Channel liner
  • Cross-vane
  • Weirs as Cascades or Step Pools
  • Zuni bowl
  • Rock arch dam (with keystone)
  • Filter dam
  • Log and fabric step falls
  • Step pools and rock rundowns
  • Gully Stabilization Opportunities
  • Road Crossings as Grade Control
  • Culvert
  • Multi-stage culvert array
  • Open bottom culvert
  • Raised Inlets for Retrofitting Existing Culverts
  • Porous Fill
  • Cross-vane as Low Water Crossing
  • Sidebar: Building a Porous Fill
• SUMMARY

CHAPTER 6: READING THE LANDSCAPE

• INTRODUCTION
• GEOLOGY
• GEOGRAPHY
• TOPOGRAPHY
  • Sidebar: How to Measure Slope on a Topographic Map
• SOILS
  • Sidebar: Hydrologic Soil Groups
• HYDROLOGY
  • Infiltration
  • Peaks of Flow
• ECOLOGY
  • Vegetation of Ephemeral Channels
  • Vegetation of Perennial and Intermittent Channels
• HUMAN INFLUENCES LEADING TO CHANNEL INCISION

READING THE LANDSCAPE CASE STUDIES

• Holman Wet Meadow
• Sidebar: Worm Ditch
• Post Office Flat
• Loco Creek
  • FIELD WORKSHEET FOR READING THE LANDSCAPE
  • SUMMARY

CHAPTER 7: PROJECT DESIGN AND LAYOUT

• INTRODUCTION
• PROJECT CONTINUITY
• PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT
• SELECT PROJECT REACH OR REACHES
• SELECT A REFERENCE REACH
• CONDUCT APPROPRIATE SURVEYS
• ESTABLISH GEOMORPHIC GOALS
  • Using the Project Stream as its Own Reference Reach
  • Look Upstream or Downstream from the Project Reach
  • Use Another Stream as a Reference Reach
  • Mathematically Determining Stream Channel Dimensions
  • Method 1: Scaling meander length from reference reach data
  • Method 2: Scaling meander length using watershed areas of reference and project reaches
  • Method 3: Mathematically determining stream morphology from regional curves
• DEVELOP A VISION FOR THE RESTORED REACH
• CONSIDER ADDITIONAL TREATMENT OPTIONS AND SITE REQUIREMENTS
• PROJECT DESIGN
  • Select Starting and Ending points
  • Meander Layout
  • Determine Appropriate Materials and Sizes for Structures
• COMPLETE TREATMENT INVENTORY, PERMITS, AND CLEARANCES
  • Inventory the Restoration Structures
  • Prepare and Apply for Permits, Clearances, and Permissions
• IMPLEMENTATION
  • Bank Shaping
  • Plant Material
  • Post Implementation Mapping
• PROJECT DEMOBILIZATION
• MINIMALIST INDUCED MEANDERING APPLIED TO A NEW MEXICO DRYLANDS STREAM
  • Accommodating Natural Constraints
  • Induced Meandering Layout
  • Construction
  • Flood Testing
  • Sidebar: Induced Meandering for Beginners
• SUMMARY

CHAPTER 8: MONITORING, MODIFICATION, AND MAINTENANCE

• INTRODUCTION
  • Specific Reasons for Monitoring
• MONITORING METHODS
  • Hydrologic Record
  • Photo Monitoring
  • Vegetation Monitoring
  • Ecological Monitoring
  • What about beavers?
  • Geomorphological Monitoring
  • Hydrologic Monitoring
• VISUAL INSPECTION OF STRUCTURES
• EVALUATING STRUCTURE CONDITION AND PERFORMANCE:
• PRESCRIBING MODIFICATIONS AND MAINTENANCE
  • Baffles
  • Vanes
  • Rock Weirs and One Rock Dams
  • Wicker Weirs
  • Cross-vanes
  • Zuni Bowls
• SUMMARY

APPENDIX

• Appendix A - The Galisteo Watershed: Centuries in the Making
• Appendix B - Representative Valley Types of the Southwest
• Appendix C - Representative Channel Types of the Southwest
• Appendix D - Stream Classification Field Sheets
  • Channel Morphology Data Sheet for Stream Classification
• Particle Size Distribution
• Appendix E - Trimming Posts and Pickets
• Appendix F - Field Worksheet for Reading the Landscape
• Appendix G - Induced Meandering Implementation Field Sheets
  • Channel Morphology Field Sheet for Induced Meandering
  • Induced Meandering Design
  • Structure Inventory
  • Dredge and Fill Inventory
  • Materials Inventory
• Appendix H - Project Planning and Implementation Checklist
• Appendix I - Photo Monitoring Field Sheets
  • Outline for Photographic Monitoring Plan, Arizona Water Protection Fund Protocol
• - Revised by Authors
• Permanent Photo Point Record Sheet - Initial Take
  • Permanent Photo Point Record Sheet - Retake
• Appendix J - Resources
• GLOSSARY OF TERMS
• REFERENCES