Currmudgeon
Gold Member
Before you begin making structural modifications to a stream, you might want to find out what agency regulates streams in your state or county, and check with them. In Illinois it's the Department of Natural Resources - Office of Water Resources. It may be no big deal, but then again, it might.
I've seen OWR go after individual landowners for fifty yards of inconsequential fill. They sometimes have no sense of humor. Filling the flood plain, even if there are no wetlands involved, is associated with increased flooding downstream.
Besides the issue of filling the flood plain there is the issue of wetlands. This comes under the Corpse of Engineers and maybe your county. They very much have no sense of humor. I've seen mitigation rates for filling of wetlands, of six to one. That means, being required to pay for the construction of six acres of wetland for every acre you wreck. I've never seen a mitigation ratio less than 1.5 : 1. The fines are on top of that.
In addition to the regulatory issues, you will need to do your engineering and look at the local drainage. If you're not careful, you can create a perfect dike and keep the creek water out of your land, but lock the local water on your side of the dike. Then you have water on both sides of the dike.
Figure out where the local water comes from and goes, and force it to go where you want it. This may take a lot of fill. Or it may take a few feet of ditch and berm.
I've seen OWR go after individual landowners for fifty yards of inconsequential fill. They sometimes have no sense of humor. Filling the flood plain, even if there are no wetlands involved, is associated with increased flooding downstream.
Besides the issue of filling the flood plain there is the issue of wetlands. This comes under the Corpse of Engineers and maybe your county. They very much have no sense of humor. I've seen mitigation rates for filling of wetlands, of six to one. That means, being required to pay for the construction of six acres of wetland for every acre you wreck. I've never seen a mitigation ratio less than 1.5 : 1. The fines are on top of that.
In addition to the regulatory issues, you will need to do your engineering and look at the local drainage. If you're not careful, you can create a perfect dike and keep the creek water out of your land, but lock the local water on your side of the dike. Then you have water on both sides of the dike.
Figure out where the local water comes from and goes, and force it to go where you want it. This may take a lot of fill. Or it may take a few feet of ditch and berm.
