Sediment Collectors Take Dirt Out Of Streams

Sediment Collectors Take Dirt Out Of Streams CROPS Miscellaneous Dwight Clary and his wife Lisa spent 11 years figuring out how to trap sediments in their stream that was washing off nearby fields Thanks to their Clary Instream Sediment Collector that rich black dirt is now accumulating in piles waiting to be spread back on nearby fields
    “We installed our first two collectors in the fall of 2010 ” recalls Clary “We had a drought that year so installation was easy It took only 5 months in 2011 for them to fill for the first time We emptied them out and they’re nearly full again ”
    After years of observing the sediment washing away down the stream on their property the Clarys came up with their concept Unable to get funding from government agencies they turned to the local community They got help from individuals organizations and companies such as Beck’s Hybrids In turn they pledged to share the idea freely with anyone who was interested
    “All we asked is that the collectors be named after us and that the first ones be built on our farm ” says Clary “We’re not making any money on them ”
    The Clary Collectors are shallow concrete wells set across the width of a stream The walls and floor are 8 in thick with rebar and fiberglass for strength Overall dimensions are 2 ft deep and 10 ft wide One is 20 ft long and the other 30 ft long A steel grate strong enough to support an ATV covers the tank
    “The collectors can be made as big as you need and might not have to be so thick ” says Clary “I would suggest having them precast so you just excavate the space and set them in place We put the grate on so no one can fall in ”
    One side of the collector is slanted so a front-end loader can drive in and scoop out the collected sediment Clary piles the removed sediment above flood levels until it can dry out
    “It is being analyzed for nutrients and for the origin of the soil particles ” says Clary “By calculating what nutrients we are removing from the stream we can tell what farms upstream are losing and put a dollar value on the work the collectors are doing ”
    Clary would like to see the collectors installed systematically throughout a stream’s watershed He suggests they be installed in the stream’s natural bottom which in his stream’s case is buried in 17 to 18 in of sediment
    “Over time the system should clear out not only new sediment running into the stream after storms but also old sediment between the collectors ” explains Clary “It costs a dollar a foot to clear sediment out of a stream bed mechanically but our collectors work 24/7 365 days a year with only occasional clean-outs ”
    Clary says it was easy to get approval from the state and federal agencies to make the installations “Once they understood what we wanted to do they said no problem ” he says “Our stream runs into the Sandusky River and then into Lake Erie A fortune is spent dredging shipping channels in the lake and the sediment is considered toxic They can’t do anything with it If we can remove the sediment before it gets to the lake and gets contaminated it benefits everyone ”
    Clary suggests installing the collectors in spots in a stream where a sandbar or mud bar naturally forms Once installed they should last for decades or longer
    “Because they are under the stream they won’t have any freeze/thaw cycles ” he says “It’s possible they might even work at the bottom of waterways trapping sediment before it enters the stream ”
    Clary is available for consulting on collector installation He and his wife are planning field days this coming summer for state and federal agencies interested in seeing the collectors and learning more about how they work Their hope is for the Clary Instream Sediment Collectors to be approved for conservation funding
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dwight and Lisa Clary 8704 Co Rd 62 Kansas Ohio 44841 clarycollector@gmail com or Chelsea Nord Beck’s Hybrids ph 800 937-2325; cnord@beckshybrids com

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