stream straightening

[k-bob]

thanks TB for mentioning that some streams that now feel remote were straightened to move logs or for some other reason.

was just looking at hayes/black creek in sgl40/hickory run, north of its crossing of 534 and east of the golf course. where the stream is just east and south a house, hayes/black looks straight then makes a very smooth turn as the flow turns west. not sure, but from fishing there, I would not have wondered whether this stretch has been straightened.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

There a very, very few streams in our state that are truly in their natural condition. Straightening for transporting logs, Mills, industry, canal systems etc all had major impacts on almost every body of water in the state. What is really neat however, is that many of these streams have since been left alone and they have reestablished more natural channels and many are productive waterways presently. Nature can and will heal itself if we let it be, where we fight a losing battle is where humans try to keep streams, especially flashy system from entering their floodplains. This causes adverse effects either in the form of scouring and severe bedloading or increased flooding downstream. Roads running along many of our streams in the floodway is no help either.

 

[Chaz]

North Kill has a couple of straightened sections, and the sad part is that you can see the old channel off to the right in one section, it's very obvious there. I'm not sure where the old channel is further up, but I know it's been moved.
Ditto for Sand Run it's tributary. I counted at least 4 long sections on the terrain map that you can see the old channel, and if I see then on that map there are probably more than that.