DESCRIPTION
This project was identified through the WRIA 13 four-year implementation priority list. This project is located on the Deschutes River in Pioneer Park, Thurston County and is owned by the City of Tumwater. The project seeks to improve a major source of erosion, reduce water temperature within the reach, restore aquatic habitat in by increasing the amount of in-stream complexity, and re-establish the native riparian forest. The site produces over 2,380 cubic yards of fine sediment every year into the system which has a critical stock of steelhead trout and coho salmon. This grant would help fund design updates, initiate permitting and complete constriction of the project. Work for this project began in 2010, with conceptual designs for a project to reduce fine sediment, decrease water temperature, and increase habitat complexity. In 2014, SPSSEG received a Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant (#14-1405) from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. The outcome of that grant was a preliminary design report, which included hydraulic modeling, geomorphic assessments, topographic survey data, and public use surveys. In the five years since the preliminary designs were originally conceived, the river has changed dramatically. On average, the Deschutes River channel through Pioneer Park migrates 9.4 feet per year. Due to this large change, the core plans from the preliminary designs will no longer function with the current state of the river.