Meacham Creek Restoration Support

PCSRF funding was targeted for restoration support staffing primarily for Phase I restoration activities from 6.0 to 7.0 river miles but the Phase II design and implementation plan included additional restoration activities from river mile 7.0 to 8.5. Restoration support through this grant was provided towards all aspects of the support including project design and implementation plan through an interdisciplinary team members including the U.S. Forest Service and CTUIR technical staff, environmental compliance, funding grant solicitation and management, negotiations and project approval with the Union Pacific Railroad, construction firm selection, implementation, construction oversight, assessment, monitoring and reporting. Support was used for development of the design and implementation plan, supportive geomorphic assessment and hydraulic analysis for the Meacham Creek Floodplain Restoration and In-stream Enhancement Project Phase I RM 6 to 7.1 and Phase II RM 6 to 8.5. The designs, Implementation plans and other supportive documentation is referenced below in the reported metrics.

Referenced tables (in the Documents section of the PCSRF database) are the results of the design and project support as completed for the Phase I original project which was river miles 6.0 to 7.1. Table 5-1 contains the geomorphic characteristics, floodplain connectivity and sediment comparisons for RM 6.0 to RM 7.0 whereas baseline conditions (2009), Phase II survey and as-built (2012), and the Phase II as-built (2013) are compared. Project implementation included re-vegetation of areas disturbed by project activities with native plants species (potted and plugs) and/or seed mix (hydroseeding and mechanical distribution).

The Meacham Creek Restoration Project was implemented to address the limiting factors of flow, temperature, and habitat simplification for cold-water fish including listed Mid-Columbia River Steelhead and Columbia River bull trout, and spring Chinook salmon, Pacific lamprey and other resident fish. The newly created channel provides a significant increase in habitat diversity and hiding cover that salmonids and resident fish can take advantage of immediately. The new channel was constructed across the floodplain with increased sinuosity and length, which resulted in a decreased gradient and overall flow velocity. The channel bed elevation was constructed higher than the existing channel and overbank flows are more accessible to the floodplain. With an increase in floodplain connectivity and sinuosity there is an increased connection between the surface channel and shallow water table (hyporheic zone), resulting in an increased diversity of water temperature with areas of low temperature for refuge and moderated daily temperature fluctuations. We expect lower stream temperatures as the project restoration site fully recovers from implementation.