River vegetation is often highly heterogeneous. The vegetation heterogeneities affect the flow and therefore sediment and nutrient transport. My senior project investigates the turbulent flow over submergent canopies that resemble river vegetation. Specifically, I have studied the effect of gaps and local height heterogeneity on flow fields utilizing a water channel and a 2-D particle image velocimetry system. The heterogeneity is introduced within an otherwise homogenous canopy. The results from the experiments suggest that macroscopically the gaps minimally affect the shear layer that has previously developed over the homogenous canopy. However, local height heterogeneities in the form of protrusions result in a separate shear layer formation past the heterogeneous section. The larger the protrusion, the more concentrated the new shear layer, therefore taking longer to dissipate and reconnect with the homogenous shear layer.