Willow plantings protected bank when Mogollon Creek hit 15,000 cfs on July 24, 2013

Mogollon Creek spiked at 15,000 cubic feet per second on Wednesday, July 24. There was a Forest Service fence and gate near an eroding bank of the creek near the confluence with the Gila River. Stream Dynamics had stabilized this bank as part of a project for the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance in December 2011. We moved the gate and fence back from the creek about 30 feet and stabilized the bank by planting willows and cottonwoods in a deep trench. The groundwater was so low on the day of planting that I had to dig 9 feet deep to hit the water. Tom Cooper and James Sanders assisted on various parts of this job, which also included setting large boulders to prevent people from driving on the river banks.

Most of the trees sprouted and were able to survive the drought due to the very deep planting. The planting was designed in the form of an upstream pointing stream barb, which stream restorationists call a vane. This is intended to create a bit of deposition, which the willows then protect with their branches and roots. Picture a willow thicket during a flood. The flood waters are going very fast and they lay the willows down flat against the bank. Under the many stems and shoots of the willows the water is flowing very slowly and this protects the ground from erosion.  In fact, the hydraulic roughness caused by the thousands of branches, leaves and stems slows down the water and cause it to drop a bit of its sediment, building up the bank that was previously getting eroded. Several minor floods passed through last year and the bank had started to deposit sediment. Wednesday's flood deposited a bunch more. Using the power of floodwaters and the ability of native riparian vegetation to resist erosion, we were able to effect a repair job that works with the natural forces and not against them.

Van Clothier, Stream Dynamics, Inc.