I put creek rock along my dam as the photo shows. The rock was hand picked so the sizes ranged from baseball size to as big as I could load. I can really see the benefit only a year later. In the photo you can see the uphill rocks were laid to be about 5 or 6 inches tall and the lower rocks were a bigger variety. Today the earth that has migrated down the dam is level with the top of the uphill rocks. My seeding efforts took very well, so this migration of dirt is mostly settling. This proved to me that rock perimeters really help. If it was not for the rock band, the dirt that is now being held back would be mud in the water. The main reason I put the rock in was for crawdads, but the erosion benefits would be worth it by itself.



Note the upsides down carpet under the rock. I am a pack rat and had saved (for years without the thought of its final destination)just enough scrap carpet to cross my dam . I was pretty proud to have had the carpet available, but even more so that it had found a use and I was relieved of the pile of "stuff" in the shop loft.

Fish on!,
Noel