Alternative Methods

for Storm-water Drainage and Erosion Control

Lois Balin, Urban Wildlife Biologist

Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.
A holistic approach to channel systems must
consider the vegetation as a key component

Influences:
• Channel morphology
• Flow hydraulics
• Sediment erodibility.
 The Human Factor
• Arroyos are dynamic living systems
• Unknown spatial and temporal effects of a
structural approach
• Land use planning that adjusts and adapts
• Arroyos undergo major flooding
• In general, they remain wide and braided
• Structurally impervious areas increase peak
flows, preventing the natural functions
performed by native plants
 Erosion

s h e ro s io n
Ra in s p la

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Surface runof
f erosion
 Preserving Flow Corridors
• Provides for systematic drainage infrastructure
• Minimizing future flood hazards
• Off-site development impacts are lessened
– Maintains existing flow paths
– Optimizes system sediment balance
– Provides continuity for wildlife corridors
Traditional Stream Management

• Dams
• Channelizing
• Expensive to build and maintain
• Concrete walls
• High failure rates, leads to more problems
• Culverts
• Aesthetically unappealing
• Building on floodplain
Effects of Traditional Stream Management on Dry
land River Ecosystems

• Attempts to confine a dynamic system

• Creates erosion, incision, and other problems
• Disrupts natural balance and ecology

Loss of habitat leads to:

– Declining water quality
– Invasive plant monocultures
– Loss of wildlife
 Bioengineering

• Restores critical areas with severe erosion

• Plans are hydrology / geomorphology site-specific
• Bioengineering combines biological, mechanical,
and ecological concepts to control erosion and
stabilize soil using construction materials and or
vegetation
 Partial List of Practices

•Loose Rock Headcut Repair

• Bank/channel armoring
• Biostimulants
• Biotechnical Headcut Repair
• Brush Barrier
• Compost Soil Amendment and Mulch
• Contour Furrows
• Fiber Roll Anchoring with Rope Restraint
• Fiber Soil Reinforcement
• Filter Wedge
• Fiber Reinforced Earth Fill
• Furrow Planting
•Micro Soil Nailing
•Mycorrhizal Soil Innoculant
•Rock with Interstitial Fill
•Serrated/Stepped/Terraced Slope
with Top soil
•Top soiling
•Top soiling /Cellular Confinement
•Turf Reinforcement Mat with
Perennial Vegetation
•Wood Chip Berm

Caltrans Erosion Control New Technology Report—Practices User’s Guide App

 Bio-engineering Control Technology
Processes that Counteract Degrading Arroyos and Slopes

· Biological Activity Stimulant

· Bonded Fiber Matrix
. Geotextiles
· Cell Confinement System
· Fiber Roll/Wattle
· Flocculates
· Hydraulic Soil Stabilizers
· Hydromulch
· Hydroseed-Mulch Additive
· Rolled Erosion Control Products
· Sediment Barrier
· Soil/Plant Amendment
. Turf Reinforcement Mat
Storm water, Arroyos, and Slope Stabilization

• Seeding / Hydroseeding
• Mulching / Hydromuching
• Swales / Contour Swales
• Sponges
• Berms
• Linings
• Mats
• Cobbles
• Gabions / Riprap
• Fabric Concrete
 Design Criteria
Rainfall runoff / flow must be considered when
evaluating erosion control solutions:

•Flow velocity
•Flow depth
•Bank slope angle
•Flood / storm duration
•Water course geometry
•Adherence of the protection to the slope
 Seed With Native Xeric Grasses for
Permanent Erosion control

• Xeric species with variable timing of germination

• Native viable seeds

• Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides)

• Black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda)
• Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
• Sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus)
• Spike dropseed (Sporobolus contractus)
• Mesa dropseed (Sporobolus flexuosus)
• Giant dropseed (Sporobolus giganteus)
 Seeding Techniques for Erosion Control

• Broadcast seeding - scattering seeds by hand or

mechanically

• Hydroseeding - spraying a slurry of seeds,

fertilizer, tackifier, and water onto exposed soils
 Mulch

• Holds slope
• Intercepts water flow
• Slows water flow and direction
• Benefits organisms & soil profile
Mulch Application After Seeding

• Native grass hay

• Wood chips
• Gravel mulch
• Hydromulch wood fiber
• Erosion control blankets
Hydromulch and Erosion Control Blankets
Effective mulch alternatives for steep slopes
• Hydromulch reduces soil loss by 50-60%
• Tackifiers glue the hydromulch in place
• Combine hydroseeding (native seeds) and hydromulching
• Cost-effective and durable
 Hydro-Blanket Bonded Fiber Matrix
• Greater erosion control on steep slopes / heavy rains
• Less expensive, more effective and easier to install
• Dries a breathable, built-in-place blanket that protects
soils and provides medium for seed germination
Slowing Water Velocity - Swales and Contours

• Intercept and slow surface water on a slope

• Direct water laterally across a slope instead of
vertically
• Allows water infiltration
• Creates moisture for planting environment
Swale Without Mulch
 Contour Swales

• A depression or ditch dug on contour

• Slows and moves surface water to a

desired location

• Soil from swales used for berms down

slope
 Sponges
• Buried organic matter (straw-bales/flakes, mulch, compost,
phonebooks, etc.)
• Improves water absorption & and soil retention
• Increases water adhesion & cohesion
• Decreases evaporation
 Detention Basin
• High-volume capacity depressions in ground
• Stores water for a limited time
• Receives and slows high-velocity flows before overflowing
• Geo-synthetic fabric lining prevents soil undercutting
• Rocks absorb energy
Berms
 Straw Wattle Technology for Slopes
• Fiber rolls/wattles with bio and photodegradable netting
• Slope intercepts - reduce travel distance of surface waters
• Sediment catchment barriers
• Fiber Roll Anchoring and Fiber Soil Reinforcement
 Liners

• Cobbles
• Riprap
• Gabions
• Turf reinforcement mats / mattresses
• Fabric-formed concrete
 Cobbles

Reno Mattress
Cobble/Rip Rap
 Gabions
• Check dams / drop structures
• Water filters through stone
• Drain with non-erosive velocity
 Permanent Soil Erosion Control Mat

• 3 D mats composed of UV stabilized, non-degradable synthetic fibers

• Secures channel linings, slopes and embankments
• Provide immediate protection of exposed areas
• Creates setting that enhances plant growth through the mat
• Reinforces the root system
• Reduces velocity and volume of run-off flow
• Superior retention of hydroseeding,

MacMat®
 Mechanically Stabilized Earth System
Terramesh

Las Vegas, NV
Terramesh
Fabric-formed Concrete Erosion Control and Armoring Systems

• Protects against high flow in drainage ditches, upper slopes of

channels, and other water courses

• Physical barriers used to hold soil in place

• Enviromat Linings are comprised of concrete-filled and unfilled

areas that allow for the establishment of vegetation

• Protects against periodic heavy flows, embankments subject to

heavy run-off and channel lining
The Advantages of Fabric-formed Concrete:

• Outperforms conventionally-formed concrete slope

paving, gabions or rip rap
• Greatly reduces costs
-• Has greater hydraulic stability
 Soil Bioengineering
• Amendments such as compost, mycorrhizae fungi,
biostimulants, flexible growth medium, bacteria
inoculations, etc.
• Promote living soil and functional soil ecology
• Uses plant matter to stabilize stream banks
• Replaces traditional methods of bank stabilization
(concrete, riprap and channelization)
• Improves water quality, bank stability, wildlife habitat,
urban aesthetics
City of Albuquerque: Major Open Space Arroyos
• Major Open Space Arroyos are to remain in a “natural” or ”semi-
natural” condition with native vegetation and channel stabilization
consisting primarily of naturalistic treatments such as un-grouped
riprap and gabions.
• Tinted concrete or soil cement may be used in limited
applications such as in low-flow channels or as needed to
control erosion at points where developed runoff enters the
arroyo.
• The existed open space characteristics of these arroyos
will be preserved to the greatest extend feasible in order to
provide visual and psychological relief from urbanization
and to protect the natural drainage process.
• Acquisition and maintenance of the public right-of-way
associated with Major Open Space .

• Arroyos over and above that requited for drainage will be responsibility of the
City. Dedication of arroyo right of way as open space or parks or the granting
of recreational easement are the preferred methods of acquisition.
City of Albuquerque: Major Open Space Arroyos
• Major Open Space Arroyos are to remain in a “natural” or
”semi-natural” condition with native vegetation and channel
stabilization consisting primarily of naturalistic treatments
such as un-grouped riprap and gabions.
• Tinted concrete or soil cement may be used in limited
applications such as in low-flow channels or as needed to
control erosion at points where developed runoff enters the
arroyo.
• The existed open space characteristics of these
arroyos will be preserved to the greatest extend
feasible in order to provide visual and psychological relief
from urbanization and to protect the natural drainage
process.
• Acquisition and maintenance of the public right-of-way
associated with Major Open Space .
• Arroyos over and above that requited for drainage will be responsibility of the City.
Dedication of arroyo right of way as open space or parks or the granting of
recreational easement are the preferred methods of acquisition.
 Facility Plan for Arroyos
Multiple Use of Albuquerque’s Arroyos and Their Floodplains
Number of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife crossings
in North America
 References
• Amole Arroyo Corridor Plan, Albuquerque, NM 2003
• Basic Guidelines for Seeding Native Grasses in Arid and Semi--Arid Ecoregions,
David R. Dreesen, Agronomist , USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center , Los
Lunas, NM . 2009
• Bear Canyon Arroyo Corridor Plan, Albuquerque, NM 1991
• CALTRANS EROSION CONTROL NEW TECHNOLOGY REPORT, CTSW-RT-
03-049 California Department of Transportation, June 2003
• Dry land Rivers, Hydrology and Geomorphology of Semi-arid Channels.2002. L.J.
Bull and M.J. Kirkby
• Facility Plan for Arroyos, Multiple Use of Albuquerques Arroyos and Their
Floodplains, Albuquerque, NM 1986
• Geostar Corporation, HYDROTEX™ and HYDROCAST™ Fabric-formed
Concrete Erosion Control and Armoring Systems.
• Maccaferr, Permanent Soil Erosion Control Mats MacMat Brochure Part 1of2.pdf
• Maccaferri, Permanent Soil Erosion Control Mats MacMat Brochure Part 2 of
2.pdf
• Maccaferri, CASE HISTORY Ref: USA031—Rev:00, Issue Date 12.12.2004
RIVER BANK PROTECTION MSE STRUCTURE SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT
LAS VEGAS, NV, USA
• US Army Corps of Engineers, Technical Report EL-97-8, April 1997,
Bioengineering for Streambank Erosion Control Report 1 Guidelines, by Hollis H.
Allen, James R. Leech