Creek erosion control

SpecialK

SpecialK

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Any ideas how I can limit how much the creek cuts into my yard? Circled in red is the spot that gets the most erosion, as it’s where the water meets the most resistance. The red arrow indicates where I foresee the creek rerouting itself many years from now. I want any solutions to look as clean and natural as possible.

When it rains hard the creek overflows. There’s some serious water flow through this little creek during those times.

Thanks

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Crazy Carl said:
Stack rocks in that washed out spot & dig/straighten the channel there?
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By dig and straighten the channel out, you mean dig it out here so there isn’t as much resistance? If no one has any magic erosion control products to suggest, I’ll likely be doing both of your suggestions. It’s labor intensive but definitely sounds like a good solution.

After doing that, I may have a load of large rocks delivered so I can really “beef up” that corner.

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I wish our backyard/creek situation looked that nice. No erosion problems, but I need to borrow a couple of my cousin's goats to clear the brush out, so I can get to work on it.
 
SpecialK said:
By dig and straighten the channel out, you mean dig it out here so there isn’t as much resistance? If no one has any magic erosion control products to suggest, I’ll likely be doing both of your suggestions.

After doing that, I may have a load of large rocks delivered so I can really “beef up” that corner.
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Yep. Give that water a straight shot through there.
 
Crazy Carl said:
I wish our backyard/creek situation looked that nice. No erosion problems, but I need to borrow a couple of my cousin's goats to clear the brush out, so I can get to work on it.
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I just got done clearing out all the brush so we can walk through it without getting it in our face. I didn’t know a creek would require so much maintenance. I enjoy it though….for the most part.
 
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Sand bag it first then stack the rocks. Some in Oriental use 2/3 full sand bags on the creeks so they can really pack ‘em tight and then the rocks can also be ”worked in” the the sand bags for better fit and hold.
 
NCFubar said:
Sand bag it first then stack the rocks. Some in Oriental use 2/3 full sand bags on the creeks so they can really pack ‘em tight and then the rocks can also be ”worked in” the the sand bags for better fit and hold.
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I considered bags but didn’t think about them being less full to allow for a tighter pack.

👍
 
SpecialK said:
I considered bags but didn’t think about them being less full to allow for a tighter pack.

👍
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Tighter and into non-linear areas … you try to eliminate as many gaps between them and the existing bank as possible so it doesn’t erode behind them
 
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SpecialK said:
Any ideas how I can limit how much the creek cuts into my yard? Circled in red is the spot that gets the most erosion, as it’s where the water meets the most resistance. The red arrow indicates where I foresee the creek rerouting itself many years from now. I want any solutions to look as clean and natural as possible.

When it rains hard the creek overflows. There’s some serious water flow through this little creek during those times.

Thanks

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Is this all hand and shovel work? I'd scoop the area to the right of the creek to straighten it out and dump what was removed into the eroded area.
 
Take that big rock and put it to deflect the water. Putting some stone along the banking won't hurt.

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The water needs to be directed to another path. You, water = water wins
 
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Big rocks.
Or form up the washed out area and pour concrete. Dye the stuff a natural color as to help with neutrality.

Plant a couple of beech trees. (long term solution)
 
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Divert the water away from the washout.
Dig down a foot or 18” below bottom of creek.
Fill that hole with dirt and build the bank out with dirt to straighten up channel.
Place geotextile fabric over new slope and cover with class B rip rap.
Leave a shoulder per say at the top bare to sew grass on.

I did stream restoration and fixed wash outs for almost 20 years. There’s a 100 different ways to do it. Not much beats rip rap and fabric though. Without fabric under the rip rap, it’ll wash out again.
 
Big rocks. rip rap wont cut it. you want Class B stone or larger. maybe even a few of those oversized concrete lego blocks they use for gravity walls.
 
Water always wins. If I remember correctly there was a study on sea walls. You can prevent erosion in one spot, but it just moves on down the line. I’m no expert but you can save that spot, but it will likely cause and issue somewhere down the line. Can you put enough rocks in place to make it a neighbor’s problem. 😆

Creeks and rivers are tricky beasts. I’d wear myself out researching before I messed with it.
 
You can do some type or shoring on that side. May want to do concrete sand bags with rock behind it and place rip rap in front..
If you just place the rip rap the water will push through and still wash it out. You need some type of layered system and back fill.
 
Hydraulic pressure is a helluva thing. Remind me to tell you about the 3 foot diameter water hose I accidentally made some time.

The only two ways to counteract hydraulic erosion are to reinforce the area being eroded and slow the flow of the water.

To that end the suggestions that have already been made just need to be combined.

Dump a load of large rocks into the area being eroded. That will reinforce that spot.

Then create a series of riprap dams down the bed of the creek. Use large rock. About 6 inches in diameter or better. Make at least one damn before the eroded point and one after it. This will create a slow moving area of water through that area.
 
SpecialK said:
Any ideas how I can limit how much the creek cuts into my yard? Circled in red is the spot that gets the most erosion, as it’s where the water meets the most resistance. The red arrow indicates where I foresee the creek rerouting itself many years from now. I want any solutions to look as clean and natural as possible.

When it rains hard the creek overflows. There’s some serious water flow through this little creek during those times.

Thanks

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I am gonna be that guy. Someone has suggested wearing yourself out researching before you act.

I second that. I maybe way off base here but here goes. When I was still working on occasion I would go to job sites with creeks on the property. There are a ton of regulations controlling what the loggers could do close to the creek or pretty much any run of water. If the had to cross it at any point whatever they did to accomplish this had to be undone before they left the site.

I have no idea if any of this would apply to you as owner but it is best to check into it and see what you can do and not find out later on that you have to undo what you did.

Just a suggestion.
 
Some of the above ideas and;
Might want to try to get some Native Calycanthus established.
It is pretty good for deterring erosion and holding the line around creeks or branches.
 
If the water flow is from the bottom right towards that cut out. @Burt Gummer nailed it. clean out that whole edge cutting the roots etc back and make it a nice slope. Dig down in the bed of the stream a bit to place geotextile fabric up the slope and use large rock (get a dump truck load) and pack them in place like tetris. The fabric will keep the soil behind the rock from eroding. It isn't cheap but a do once cry once type deal. Water is an efficient machine.
 
CZfool68 said:
Water always wins. If I remember correctly there was a study on sea walls. You can prevent erosion in one spot, but it just moves on down the line. I’m no expert but you can save that spot, but it will likely cause and issue somewhere down the line. Can you put enough rocks in place to make it a neighbor’s problem. 😆

Creeks and rivers are tricky beasts. I’d wear myself out researching before I messed with it.
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He is correct … you will be changing the flow. Slow it down and you may back things up and have an occasional overflow … speed it up and you’ll start cutting into the bank down stream. We have ideas how to fix one spot but what is the smartest for the overall creek system? I ain’t that smart on fluid dynamics especially in YOUR BACKYARD!
 
Trial and error for me, but I’d move those larger rocks over to the left bank so the faster moving water stays to the right. You seem to have plenty of material, just move it a bit at a time. The goal is to have slow water on your side, so I wouldn’t remove the tangled branches/roots, that’ll eventually be holding sediment in place.
 
Schattenreiter said:
I am gonna be that guy. Someone has suggested wearing yourself out researching before you act.

I second that. I maybe way off base here but here goes. When I was still working on occasion I would go to job sites with creeks on the property. There are a ton of regulations controlling what the loggers could do close to the creek or pretty much any run of water. If the had to cross it at any point whatever they did to accomplish this had to be undone before they left the site.

I have no idea if any of this would apply to you as owner but it is best to check into it and see what you can do and not find out later on that you have to undo what you did.

Just a suggestion.
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Depends on where you live. Not from a legal stand point but from will a neighbor report you standpoint.

My neighbors told me how much they loved the work I did on the creek.
 
Got some good advice here, thanks guys. I’m going to combine them, maybe make a few calls, do more research, and act on it sometime next year. I’ll update this when I do. I did find some nice bluestem grass that seems like a good option. It’s root system grows up to 8’ down.

Here’s some pictures of after a heavy rainfall a while back.

The fire pit washout is rare. Only happened twice in two years, this instance being the worst.

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Stream and rivers always change paths in an S. Just draw a line towards the log pile and you'll see where the flow will eventually be going.

Outside curves dig, inside deposit.

Only way to slow the effect is to straighten the flow. Good luck.
 
SpecialK said:
Got some good advice here, thanks guys. I’m going to combine them, maybe make a few calls, do more research, and act on it sometime next year. I’ll update this when I do. I did find some nice bluestem grass that seems like a good option. It’s root system grows up to 8’ down.

Here’s some pictures of after a heavy rainfall a while back.

The fire pit washout is rare. Only happened twice in two years, this instance being the worst.

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That’s no creek!!! Raging river right there😁
 
Maybe a hydro generator 😜
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kcult said:
Have you tried the flamethrower?
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Depending on how the other suggestions go and how many beers I’ll have, that may be an option by the end of the job.

I probably shouldn’t have a flamethrower.
 
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For anyone interested, here is a great solution to slowing/stopping erosion along creek banks. Thanks @Burt Gummer for the idea.

I’ll be buying a 6’ willow tree to replace my fire pit (it will be relocated). I’ll have someone with an excavator build the bank back up, then drive several willow tree stakes into the ground, alongside the newly built up creek bank. I’m hoping the willow tree clippings and grasses will have enough time to take root and help secure the bank.

Anyone in the piedmont area that does grading/erosion control work, feel free to message me.

Here is a great video illustrating the use of willow stakes along creek banks that lack vegetation.

 
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