Stream & Watershed Stewardship

The District sees stream maintenance as an integrated stream management approach that involves protecting and enhancing existing in-stream resources while providing for necessary flood conveyance capacity in the channel. The District has integrated habitat enhancement efforts into the Stream Maintenance Program to protect and enhance in-stream physical processes, water quality conditions, riparian vegetation and in-stream habitat. The District partners with local groups and other government entities to implement stream enhancement projects including invasive species management, native riparian planting projects, barrier and debris removal, large woody debris preservation and supports watershed and flood control studies. 

The District also offers a Stream Bank Stabilization Cost-Share Program to assist property owners with stream bank erosion issues.  The District's long-term vision is to create a diverse, mature and structurally complex riparian corridor that provides shade to the active channel, foraging and nesting habitat for many small mammals and birds, forage for aquatic species, moderates water temperatures and shades out invasive species. The District sees itself not merely as a flood management bureau, but more broadly as a resource management agency with a duty to integrate environmental benefits (such as habitat protection and enhancement) into stream maintenance activities.