Use pic as reference. I have a very shallow stream running across

>>946012
depending where you live there can be pretty strict rules regarding whettlands. It may be that you aren't allowed to alter or obstruct the stream because it supports an ecosystem further downstream that could be damaged if the stream becomes a shit.

>people get fined for this sort of thing regularly

>>946012
>>946015
the key is not leaving clues that you altered the land, also, mosquitoes and snakes, you're gonna attract them.

>>946012
Dredging in a stream is quite illegal in many parts of the US. You could get fined by your town conservation commission, your state DEP or equivalent, or even by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Also, if you do make the banks steeper by dredging it out, they're going to become unstable and undercut unless you stabilize them properly. Learn about bank stabilization before you try this.

And don't tell anyone you're doing it.

>>946012
Everything you want to do to that stream will cause it to erode like a motherfucker and create all sorts of problems on your property.

If you want to make it more aesthetic, look up cool plants that grow along streams in your area and plant them. Maybe put some rocks in a deeper section to create shelter and riffle for aquatic life.

You don't happen to have a picture of the stream in summer, do you?

>>946012
Start by clearing debris from flow channel. Move logs, rake out leaves. Let the stream follow its own path. In the end, it will be most aesthetic.

This may be on the edge of legal, but EPA isn't going to enforce unless someone rats you out or they see motorized excavation occuring. However, statue limitations will apply.

Deepening will create areas of stagnant water and sedimentation.
Clearing veg will increase erosion.

Getting a permit will require you to proving that there is a threat to safety or property or it keeps you from using and enjoying your property, and you have exhausted all feasible and prudent alternatives.

>>946012
-Remove debris.
-Angle the banks an widen the bed by 30%.
-Install drystacked stone retaining walls that will be 60% to 70% degrees.
-Backfill the walls with small stones/gravel.
-Fill the bed with stones that are about 4" to 6" in diameter about 12" deep.

That will prevent erosion, add amazing aesthetic, and cost an arm & a leg in money and labor.

>>946073
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq8gfaFqFpI

>>946012
ive done the sae on my property, dug it deeper mostly to improve drainage and make my woods less marshy,

the only advice i could give you is
1 dont go overboard, my original plan was to dig my brook 3 ft deep and diging by hand is alot of work

second piece of advice would be once again dont go overboard, a 12-15 inch stream bed dried up in the summer is fine
a 3 ft hole looks pretty terrible when dry

>>946071
this guy gets it

>>946071
Yeah but don't plant invasive species. Elephant ears choke many waterways where I live because people planted them everywhere in the 70s because they're so pretty. Now they will never go away.

>>946012
Army corps will make you restore it if they ever catch you. They will also fine you in the thousands per day until you do so.

t. Environmental tech

>>946227
Depends on the state

>>946227
>Army corps will make you restore it
That's pretty fucking ironic 2bh.

>>946229
Wetland protections exist at the federal level

>>946233
No way many states will let you enforce that.
States rights are stronger that army corp

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>The future is female

what did she mean by this

>>946071

I can attest to this, when I was a kid like 12 years old or someshit I went to a neighbor's beachhouse and there was a small pond fed by a creek next to a lake and I decided to make a 4-5 inch wide channel between the two with a sand shovel. Long story short it became several meters wide by the end of the day and revisiting it it is now a small bay of the lake and not a separate body of water

>>946233
Except Michigan and New Jersey which enforce section 404 of the CWA with approval of the ((((USEPA))))

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>>946012

ITT I learned: Don't fuck with streams you dumb nigger it will wreck your shit

Thanks /out/, wouldn't have assumed it was an issue

>>946484
It's not

>>946558
t. a selfish shelfish

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/80310149/civil-engineer-mortified-by-diverted-stream-the-environment-court-hears

>>946568

>"There were a couple of eels in the diverted channel, they looked displaced and didn't have a home to go to," Jansma said.

THINK OF THE EEL CHIL'RUN!

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>>946587
you're such a faggot

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>>946103
Fucking spell check making me look like a knuckle dragging troglodyte.

>>946704
troglodyte or froglodyte

i'll show myself out

>>946704
safrog

>>946073

This might be literally the first knowledgable, useful advice I've seen in ten years of lurking 4chan.

Google search "riparian restoration" that should give you an idea of what kinds of things need to be done to make a stream and the surrounding area a healthy and productive ecosystem. But as others said, there can be very strict regulations around the tampering and modification of natural ecosystems, especially freshwater streams and riparian zones

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>>946746

>>946012
That's called making a pond.

>>946395
Only if they can find that section...
Badumtisch!