DESCRIPTION
This proposed reach is a highly dynamic section of river with notable challenges associated with inundation flooding and its impacts to buildings, infrastructure, livestock, and pasturelands. This reach also experiences unusually significant and chronic bank erosion. The 2007 flood was a key turning point, during which a levee on one landowner's property was breached. Since that time, this landowner and her abutting downstream neighbor have experienced annual flooding and costly damages to land and infrastructure. A third farmer on the east side of the river is also facing significant erosion. This reach offers several opportunities to enhance instream and off channel aquatic habitat. The range of flooding and erosion issues within this reach provide opportunities to implement an arsenal of flood damage mitigation techniques and restoration strategies for early action that could be used to inform future strategies. Restoration actions in this reach may include stabilizing banks against chronic lateral bank erosion along two sections of the river, improving existing wooden groins to address overflow erosion, installing a flood fence, constructing bioengineered structures for bank stabilization and to restore natural river processes, and enhancing instream and off channel fish habitat. King Creek, a tributary within this reach, may be integrated into this project in order to enhance fish habitat.