Transcript Erosion and Sedimentation Control Workshop Why are we doing all

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 macroinvertebrates 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?