CONTOUR WATTLING

Contour or Straw Wattling involves the placing of cylindrical “Straw Wattles” across a sloped area. This practice helps to slow runoff, and thus increase the rate of infiltration, reduce erosion, trap sediment and debris, and stabilize slopes. The implementation of this management practice is relatively affordable compared to other shoreline improvements and does not require much labor.

Overview:

Dig a shallow trench equivalent to the size of the wattle

Place wattle in trench

Drive stake through wattle, about 4-5 per wattle

Live staking and contour wattling graphic above from page 26 of the Vermont Shoreline Stabilization Handbook

Contour wattling and live staking Graphic from page 27 of the Vermont Shoreline Stabilization Handbook

More Information

For additional installation instruction, please visit these resources:

Click here⁴⁵ for more information on Vermont’s discharge construction permits.

(page 64)

To see the NRCS fact sheet on contour wattles, click here⁴⁶.

For additional information on contour wattles, click here⁴⁷.

For information on Permitting and Inspections before implementing your improvements, click here³³.