ARainLS.TRFAMti 



What's Your Stream's Personality? 



These characteristics determine many stream- 

 types, each with its own "personality. " 



*^, What's the most common 

 ■ material making up the 

 -*- channel and bank? 



Silt/Clay smooth 

 betzveen fingers 



Channel and bank 

 materials are 

 critical character- 

 istics of a stream. 



They determine: 



• sensitivity to 

 disturbance and 

 potential 

 for erosion 



Sand feels gritty 



recovery 

 potential 



Gravel fits in hand ' ability to support 

 vegetation 



• role of vegetation 

 in stabilizing 

 stream channels 



• amount of 

 channel 

 roughness to 

 slow stream flow 

 and reduce 

 stream 



energy 



Cobble 



1 Channel and bank 

 materials 



2 Sinuosity 



3 Channel gradient 



4 Floodplain 



5 Channel shape 



Other important stream 

 characteristics not 

 illustrated here: 



6 Floiv timing and 

 amount 



7 Amount of 

 sediment 



By understanding the combination of characteristics 

 that make up your stream's personality, you can 

 determine appropriate management practices. 

 Changing any of these characteristics without careful 

 planning can cause unwanted changes in the stream. 



2 



How sinuous is the channel? 



Sinuosity refers to the amount of curvature 

 in a stream channel. The increased length of 

 a highly sinuous channel helps to dissipate 

 stream energy. Shorter and straighter channels 

 possess more stream energy and erosion 



potential. 



highly sinuous 



straight slightly sinuous (meandering) 



Boulder 



you may have to 

 climb over 



3 



What is the gradient of the channel? 



The steeper the channel gradient, the greater 

 the water velocity and potential for erosion. 



Greater than 4% 2-4% less than 2% 



