NC State University Stream Restoration Program

Fletcher, NC

Cane Creek was incised with bank erosion in some areas due to lack of vegetation and excessive shear stress in some meander bends. In the project reach, the left bank was eroding rapidly, and there was a large mid-channel bar building underneath the newly constructed greenway bridge. The goals of the project were to provide a naturally stable stream channel with a floodplain bench on the left bank, improve sediment transport around the bridge, provide natural riffle-pool bedform diversity, provide natural bank vegetation, improve aquatic habitat, and provide an aesthetically pleasing educational stream demonstration for the Town of Fletcher. The project included channel reconfiguration, in-stream boulder and log structures, streambank stabilization, and riparian buffer planting. The left bank was reconfigured using root wads, log and boulder vanes, brush mattresses, and tree transplants. The point bar on the inside bend was cut down to allow passage of high flows. Following channel and floodplain grading in 2004, native grasses, shrubs, and trees were planted along the riparian corridor for stability, shade, and aesthetics.