On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 22:10:56 -0800, Larry Caldwell wrote:

In article ,
(Ann) says...

Depending on where you live and whether any existing regulations are
enforced, you may or may not be allowed to do work in the stream bed
without a permit.

However, getting a permit is a fairly straightforward process, if you
give it enough lead time and submit sensible plans. You local Soil
Conservation District field rep can provide you with sample plans for
erosion control and stream enhancement that assure almost automatic
approval. If you want to install a small scale hydro plant, you have a
lot of hoops to jump through, but if you just want to stabilize a stream
bed or stream bank, the process is pretty simple.

"Depending on where you live" also applies to the permit process and
whether there is competent "guidance" available.