Riparian plants with their deep, interwoven roots protect streambanks against scouring that would otherwise erode and transport soil, filling water bodies, reducing water quality, and degrading the landscape. Unfortunately this fact goes largely unrecognized and unappreciated by landowners.
The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) works to raise awareness and increase understanding of good stream management practices. OCES stream models are a 4’ X 8’ pan holding plastic grit and a reservoir of recirculating water, mounted on a trailer. This “seeing is believing” demonstration tool educates landowners and future landowners about the importance of protecting trees, woody plants and deeply rooted grasses along water ways.
Stream trailers are outfitted with simulated riparian vegetation, model houses, bridges, and other teaching materials to simulate real stream situations. Typically an instructor sets up and explains stream processes as they take place, but small groups can also be guided to use the model by themselves. Stream trailers engage audiences of all ages with an impactful message.
Results/Conclusions
Over a twenty-year period, more than 400,000 Oklahomans have been exposed to stream erosion lessons via six stream trailers. Last year’s audience size was 46,000. Oklahoma is not alone in using stream trailers: New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Colorado and Kansas all have independent efforts. Ten trailers have been produced by the department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and sold to entities in Texas, Alabama, and the District of Columbia.
Several things become clear during the stream trailer exercises: 1) riparian trees, shrubs, and other deep-rooted plants are essential to maintaining intact streambanks; 2) streams never run straight, making channelization costly and damaging to lower stream reaches; 3) the benefits and hazards of floodplains; and 4) severe streambank erosion leads to both instream sediment build-up and shortened life of downstream reservoirs.
Natural concurrent topics of discussion are the human impacts of stream erosion – loss of land and structures, as well as stream channel widening and shallowing of flow that degrades fish habitat. OSU BAE students have even used a stream trailer to test different project designs to protect sandbars used for nesting by the endangered Piping Plover.