Even small or temporary streams provide valuable habitat for fish and wildlife. Permanent streams flow year round on the surface. Other streams can flow underground in places or dry up during hot summer or frozen winter months. Streams naturally wind or meander.
Meanders reduce the slope of the stream and slow down the moving water.
They increase the amount of water the stream can hold, reducing the potential for downstream flooding. Side channels and oxbows, separate from the main channel, also increase the amount of water a stream can hold during high-water periods, as well as provide additional aquatic habitat. Baseflow Natural reservoirs, such as groundwater and wetlands, maintain a stream's baseflow. Watersheds with limited groundwater discharge often have headwater streams that dry up in midsummer and mainstem sections with extremely low flows after extended dry periods. Reductions in baseflow often follow the draining or filling in of wetlands.