Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


Home	About NPWRC	Our Science	Staff	Employment	Contacts	Common Questions	About the Site

Riparian Areas of South Dakota

JPG-Picture of a fish that may inhabit a riparian area

Stream Banks - Riparian Foundations

Building a Riparian Area

When stream banks are resistant to the powers of waterflow, the channel tends to be narrow and deep. That becomes the foundation of a stable riparian area.

When floods occur, higher water speeds are slowed by streamside vegetation.
Vegetation helps build stream banks and riparian areas.
Vegetation helps keep streams flowing during dry periods.

JPG-Two pictures regarding building a riparian area.

JPG-Two more pictures regarding building a riparian area.

Stream Horsepower

Streams and rivers flowing through riparian areas have three common elements:

the water in their channels has mass (or weight).
the mass of water is dragged downhill under the influence of gravity.
the water flows at some speed (or velocity).

JPG-Stream horsepower photo of stream winding through the woods.

A simple doubling of the speed of a stream's flow allows it to erode four times as much and to carry 64 times the amount of material. That's power!

Vegetation - The Roots of the Solution

Streams and riparian areas are "glued" together by a diversity of plants with strong root systems.

Streamside vegetation reduces the horsepower of a stream, slowing water down through friction. A two-inch deep rootmat resists erosion up to 20,000 times better than bare soil streambanks.

As the percentage of roots in stream banks increases, erosion decreases.

JPG-Photo of stream through vegetative area

Previous Section -- Riparian Function - Water In the Bank
Return to Contents
Next Section -- Riparian Areas, Uplands and Associated Watersheds

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/habitat/ripsd/ripfound.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 04:56:23 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]