STREAMBANK FISH-SHELTER STRUCTURES HELP STABILIZE TRIBUTARY STREAMS IN WISCONSIN

A significant proportion of stream sediment yield in North America com es from stream channel and bank erosion. One method used for stream st abilization is the bank installation of timber and stone fish-shelter structures, but there is little evidence for their potential effective ness. Nine to nineteen years of precise survey data from Goon Creek, W isconsin, however, show that fish structures enhance sediment depositi on along the stream and may retard lateral migration of channels. Such structures have greater utility for sediment control when streams are eroding away a high bank and replacing it with a lower bank.