This 20/20 Blog post was written by Jared Strawderman from the Columbia Gorge Refuge Stewards, with significant contributions from Doug Kreuzer, Curtis Helm, and Chris Collins of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
For you birders, you’re probably familiar with the ‘Big Year’ concept, doing your best to see all the birds you can see in one calendar year. If you’ll indulge me in applying the same idea to a restoration project, then you’ll see it’s been a Big Year for the Steigerwald Reconnection Project, as the crew has been tallying accomplishment after accomplishment.
Recently, our partners at the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership)—the driving force, alongside Refuge staff, behind the largest restoration project ever on the Lower Columbia River—sat down with Refuge volunteers via videoconference to highlight the milestones that were reached during the summer of 2020. Of main interest was the impact to wildlife this project is having. The answers to this question were very encouraging.
Estuary Partnership staff commented specifically on how easy it has been to work with the project’s local contractors—Rotschy, Inc. of Vancouver and LKE Corporation of Washougal. The contractors have shown patience for the needs of wildlife and a keen focus on limiting disturbance.
Perhaps what resonated most with the crowd of volunteers, though, was what the Estuary Partnership was able to show during our call. In addition to some bulleted highlights, below you’ll find a collection of images—in some cases, before and after shots—pulled together by Doug Kreuzer, Curtis Helm, and Chris Collins of the Estuary Partnership, which will give you a window into just how complex this restoration project is.
Enjoy and look for more big things to come in 2021!
Summer 2020 Highlights at a Glance
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Excavation/earthwork wrapped up for the year on 10/9/20. Winter work at the Refuge will be much more quiet.
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Less earthwork over the winter means the dike trail can be extended. The dike trail is now open all the way to the Gibbons Creek fish ladder, making the trail a total of 3 miles from Steamboat Landing to the closed sign.
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Raising SR 14 to the 500 year flood elevation was completed in late September, with only minor work remaining along the rights-of-way.
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All Gibbons Creek work north of SR 14 is complete. This included the installation of four riffle/cobble bars and multiple wood habitat structures within the stream corridor and the adjacent—newly created—floodplain.
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Approximately half of the east levee along with the foundation for the west levee have been completed. Three test fill sites have been constructed to monitor levee settlement this winter.
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Approximately 50 acres of wetland habitat was created/enhanced this summer, including the placement of 160 pieces of large woody debris, with more of both to come next year.
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The 50 acres of wetland that was created was also seeded with native species, applied as a hydromulch. The seed has germinated and is starting to green up.
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Invasive plants were treated within the 53 acres of plantings installed last winter. Another 15 acres of plantings will be installed this winter. This will include approximately 30,000 native bare root plants and live stakes.
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The primary activities during fall 2020 will be constructing and staining the flood wall, landscaping the new parking lot, installing artwork and other features in the new parking lot, installing guard rail along SR 14, and revegetation. If you’d like to be part of this incredible project you are in luck. The Estuary Partnership will be hosting five planting events in November and can be found on their website.
Flood Control and Resilience
Gibbons Creek Realignment
Original straight channel (Left) – May 2020. Aerial view looking to the south of Gibbons Creek corridor north of SR14, prior to beginning work.
New curved alignment (Right) – Sept 2020. Aerial view South of Gibbons Creek corridor north of SR14 following completion of the majority of creek realignment and floodplain excavation.
Fish salvage – July 2020. View of fish salvage effort within Gibbons Creek performed prior to dewatering creek section. Crews used dip nets, seines and electro-shockers to capture fish. The fish salvage within Gibbons creek north of SR14 yielded 1388 lamprey (both Pacific and Western Brook), 365 juvenile coho salmon and 38 cutthroat trout. Additional native species that were captured included sculpin (1100), three-spined stickle back (1050) and various species of dace (590). Be sure to check out our Fish Salvage blog and video to learn even more about this part of the project.
New Gibbons Creek channel north of SR 14 – July 2020. View South showing contractors from LKE Inc. laying out the centerline of a portion of the realigned Gibbons Creek channel. Approximately 10,000 cubic yards of soil were removed to create the new channel and adjacent floodplain.
View north from SR 14 bridge – Sept 2020. Site has been hydroseeded and wattles installed along banks to reduce runoff. Note salvage wood that has been installed in the floodplain on the right side of photo. The concrete floodwall is under construction on the left side of the photo.
New floodwall – Sept 2020. View south showing floodwall located north of SR14 under construction. Floodwall height is uniform but will appear to shorten as the grade rises gently to the north. The floodwall will be stained a dark brown in December 2020. A color approved by the US Forest Service which was necessary because the wall lies within the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.
Flood Control and Resilience
Setback Levee Construction
East setback levee alignment before (Left) – June 2020 – Aerial view north showing the alignment of the east setback levee prior to onset of grading. Site consists of pasture grass and hayfields.
East setback levee alignment under construction (Right) – August 2020 – Aerial view north showing east setback levee under construction. The levee is on the right side (darker soil color) of photo and the “wind wave overbuild” is just to the left (west) of the new levee. The wind wave overbuild is installed to provide a run-up to disperse wind/wave at the toe of the levee and is a replacement for rock rip rap. An environmental and aesthetic benefit.
West setback levee alignment before (Left) – May 2020. Aerial view south of west levee alignment prior to site disturbance. Site is dominated by Himalayan blackberry and reed canary grass.
West setback levee alignment under construction (Right) – Sept 2020. Aerial view south of west levee under construction. The contractor has managed to construct the entirety of the alignment through the wettest portions of the site. They have built a solid foundation in order to get a jump start on the 2021 construction season. This was identified as a critical path in order to finish the setback levee(s) prior to the November 1, 2021 deadline.
Tree Removal – Aug 2020. View south showing clearing through black cottonwood stand for construction of west setback levee. Approx. 1 ac of forest was removed for the levee. The clearing was timed to allow the nearby great blue heron colony to fledge the nestlings. Again, all trees removed will be salvaged and placed into Expanded Habitat areas to provide structure.
West setback levee by barns – Sept 2020. View north of west setback levee alignment from the trail located along the existing Washougal Flood Damage Reduction Levee along the Columbia River. The barn structure on the right will eventually be removed as part of the project and the area will provide a future home for a City of Washougal wellfield.
Habitat Improvements
Expanded Habitat Areas
Expanded habitat before (Left) – May 2020. Aerial view east of the proposed location of Expanded Habitat Area 1 (EH-1). The area was dominated by a dense stand of Himalayan blackberry prior to clearing and excavation. EH – 1 will total approximately 18 acres upon completion of grading.
Expanded habitat under construction (Right) – Sept 2020. Aerial view east of EH-1 following substantial excavation. Note the ponding that has already occurred. EH -1 is immediately adjacent to Gibbons Creek and water levels may have also been influenced by beaver activity downstream and to the east of the site.
Expanded habitat area 5 – Sept 2020. View west of the western portion of EH-5 showing the installation of salvage and expanded habitat wood. Approximately 90 pieces of large wood have been placed throughout EH-5. EH-5 will total approximately 40 acres upon completion of grading; contributing to the combined area of approximately 120 acres of new wetland habitat that will be created as part of the Steigerwald Reconnection Project.
Hydroseeding in expanded habitat area– Sept 2020. View north showing the hydroseeding underway. Hydroseeding consists of seed, fiber mulch with tackifier, and a slow-release low-nutrient organic fertilizer. Seed mixes are comprised of native grasses and wildflowers, specifically designed for the proposed location including, wetland, riparian and adjacent upland seeding.
Habitat Improvements
Preparation for Channel to Connect Steigerwald Lake to the Columbia
Photo Left – June 2020. Aerial view north of proposed location of Channel 2 alignment through riparian forest. Forest is dominated by black cottonwood.
Photo Right – Sept 2020. Aerial view north showing clearing and preliminary grading associated with Channel 2. Tree removal was minimized to the extent possible while still providing adequate footprint for excavation of Channel 2.
Excavator Removing Trees – July 2020. View NW showing cottonwood trees that were removed as part of the clearing for Channel 2. These trees will be reused as salvaged habitat wood within the six Expanded Habitat areas that are part of the project. As habitat wood they will provide structure, cover, perches and nesting opportunities along with inputs of organic matter. Some of the “green” cottonwoods are expected to re-root and sprout shoots since they were placed in a moist substrate soon after they were felled.