Stream Water Surface Profile
Modification for Wetland
Restoration
Technical Note No. 2
May 2008
Natural
Resources
Conservation
Service
United States
Department of
Agriculture
Issued May 2008
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Cover: Enhanced hydrologic regime in RIVERINE wetland (Photo by
Richard Weber, NRCS)
Technical Note No. 2, May 2008
1
Stream Water Surface Profile
Modification for Wetland Restoration
Introduction
Riverine wetlands in a natural setting are part of a
dynamic self-sustaining stream corridor. The stream
corridor consists of a stream channel, flood plain
wetlands, flood plain nonwetlands, and flood plain
vegetation which form a stable system in dynamic
equilibrium. These riverine systems serve to reduce
flood peak discharges, absorb and cycle nutrients,
transport and/or cycle sediment, and provide habitat
for wetland plant and animals. Vegetative plant com-
munities change spatially and temporally in response
to the inputs of water and sediment supplied by the
stream system. While the active stream channel trans-
ports sediment through the reach, the flood plain and
its wetlands c