Let’s have a look at how trees in riparian areas, or alongside waterways, work to stabilize river banks!
A stream table is a shallow tank on an angle with water running through different sized grains of sand which we can set up various demonstrations in to show these fluvial processes at work.
The roots of these mature trees all work to hold these soils together. Before the Forest Practices Code was introduced in BC in the 90’s, many riparian areas were clearcut logged. With all these trees removed, their root systems die and no longer hold soils together as they once did.
Instead of a winding, curving river, the river begins to straighten out and run faster, taking more and more sediment with it. In a forested area, there is minimal erosion and a deep channel. The unvegetated lower channel looks very different. Erosion is happening quickly and aggressively, resulting in an overly dynamic river that migrates back and forth as it erodes the banks. The river is getting wider and shallower, and is oversimplified with no viable habitat for salmon to thrive in.
Come check out and play with the stream table yourself at our shop & office space in Ucluelet, BC!
Learn more about what we do at ReddFish.org
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Redd Fish humbly acknowledges the ancestral territories of the Nuučaanuł Nations, who have owned and managed their territories since time immemorial. We gratefully operate in partnership with the Hiškʷiiʔatḥ Nation, ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ Nation, ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ Nation, tukʷaaʔatḥ Nation Government, and the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government.
