Creek Log Jams

After Jolene and I moved into our house this past Summer, we realized that the Yellow Breeches Creek, which was supposed to be flowing along our backyard, was blocked by a logjam, and the creek bed was dry. We also learned that the land across the creek bed from our yard is actually a big island in the creek, with almost all of the water currently going around to the other side. This Spring, our goal is to get water flowing again through the creek bed on our side of the island.   Here are some pictures:

Logjam #1, from the front facing upstream.  Taken from the back corner of our yard.

Logjam #1, taken from the side.

Logjam #1, again from the front looking upstream.

Logjam #1, looking from the back of the jam, facing downstream.

After we discovered this logjam, we noticed that water wasn't even flowing up to it.  After looking around I found a second logjam, about 25 yards upstream from the first.  At that spot, the creek splits and should go around both sides of an island.  The second logjam is right at that split, preventing water from flowing on our side.  Here are some pictures of the second jam:

Logjam #2, facing upstream at a wider angle.  You can see stagnant water at the left.

Logjam #2, again facing upstream.  Water in the foreground is stagnant.  Water in the background is the flowing water of the creek.  It flows straight toward the logjam, but then gets diverted toward the right and goes around the far side of the island.

Logjam #2, from the side.  The water you see was flowing straight toward me when I was taking this picture.  The branch of the creek that flows on the far side of the island is directly behind me.  Our side is to the left.

Logjam #2

Lots of work to do this Spring... waders, chainsaws, and manual labor needed.  Let me know if you wanna help out.