DESCRIPTION
The Middle Nemah River is the Pilot Watershed for the Willapa Bay Lead Entity for Salmon Recovery. The Pacific Conservation District led a full watershed habitat assessment in 2019 that identified and prioritized 24 restoration opportunities within the watershed (Cramer Fish Science, 2020). The first cluster of priority actions (opportunities 5, 4, and 3, collectively ranked #1) are currently being designed. This proposal would fund design of the second and third clusters of prioritized actions, opportunities 13, 14 and 21, which are collectively ranked #2, and opportunities 16 and 15, which are ranked together as the #3 priority. All these opportunities are in the same part of the upper mainstem river. Opp. 13 and 16 would design additions of large wood to reengage the floodplain and side channels. Opp. 14 and 15 would remove the abandoned road prism that blocks lateral movement of the stream. And Opp. 21 would remove a culvert and road crossing from a nearby part of the same road system. Together these interrelated actions would restore stream habitat and function in 1.5 miles of the upper mainstem system.
The Middle Nemah Restoration Design Phase 2 project completed design of large wood additions in the upper mainstem of the Middle Nemah River. The road abandonment restoration opportunities and culvert removal were dropped after field review with the sponsor, design firm and DNR staff having determined that these actions would not improve floodplain function significantly; certainly not enough to justify reopening the road system which had been decommissioned well over a decade ago. This also suggested that large wood placements via helicopter would be preferred to avoid reopening the same road system for equipment based wood placements. Wood placements were designed throughout the upper mainstem reaches through a conceptual design process, site visits with stakeholders and development and refinement of the preliminary designs.
PCSRF 2016 funds were spent within the award period.
