DESCRIPTION
This will be a Design and Feasibility grant for assessing where and how to add LWD in the newly connected floodplain to increase habitat complexity. A second aspect of the study would analyze previously identified low flow barrier riffles in this reach for wood supplementation to mitigate our increasingly problematic low flows during spawning phases of ESA listed salmon stocks.
Salmon productivity in the steep and
hydrologically flashy Dungeness River is greatly influenced by the degree to
which the river is connected to healthy floodplains. Floodplain loss and low levels of stable,
in-channel large wood are the most serious anthropogenic stressors currently
affecting Dungeness River salmon productivity. This portfolio project will restore and permanently conserve floodplain
habitat within the affected reach, which extends from the river mouth upstream
to Canyon Creek (RM 10.7). Restoration
will occur through a number of measures including the removal and relocation of
levees, roads, bulkheads, and other infrastructure, side channel excavations,
large wood placements, and floodplain reforestation. These actions will provide the river with
areas to meander, store sediment, create stable anabranches and side channels,
and spread out and slow down during floods. The reforested floodplains will serve as permanent, natural sources of
long-term large wood recruitment to create stable, complex habitat. Permanent conservation of restored floodplains
will generally be accomplished through fee simple acquisitions and will be
provided with Salmon Deed of Rights. Due to the length of the affected river
reach, complexity of the natural system, and the large amount of privately
owned lost floodplains, we must phase the project over numerous years.
WRIA18 East: Dungeness River Watershed
