Erosion and Sedimentation Control Workshop

Why are we doing all of this?

Issues With Logging and OGM

• Stripped riparian areas– Increased stormwater

runoff– Riparian buffers along

streams filter out sediment and pollutants

– Like rebar in concrete, roots hold banks together

• Haul/Access Roads– Interruption of natural

drainage patterns– Some loggers plow

right through stream– Concentrate runoff– Generate extra

sediment– Can be direct conduits

for sediment and pollutants to the stream system

Sediment Effects on Aquatic Communities

Damaged Gills on Fish

• Sediment is very abrasive to the gills of the fish (sandpaper)

• Leaves fish susceptible to disease and parasites

Fills in Streambed

• Streambed is filled with fine sediment

• Fish and aquatic macro-invertebrates need open spaces in stream bottom

• Fills in stream and often removes overhead cover for fish

• Can alter fish and aquatic insect communities

Blocking of sunlight• Increased sediment loads does not allow direct

sunlight to hit the streambed• Hard for freshwater plants to grow• Decreases the ammount of oxygen in the water• Also inhibits feeding (can’t see prey)

Increased Streambank Erosion

• Increased sediment into the stream causes an increase in sediment scouring a streambank

• Loss of property• Loss of habitat• Causes even more

sediment load

We All Live Downstream

• Anything that happens here effects someone else downstream.

• This area drains to both the Chesapeake Bay

• The Bay is suffering from severe sedimentation

• Loss of habitat and pollutants are killing the oceanic ecosystems– Nitrogen, Phosphorous,

sediment, etc.

What We Can Do

• Manage the forest with BMP’s– Leave riparian areas

along the stream– Minimize

concentration of flow and volume of water

– Outlet drainage to stable filter areas not directly into the stream

• Human impacts on aquatic communities are widespread

• With preventative steps we can work in harmony with the environment

QUESTIONS?