DESCRIPTION
This project page accounts for costs for all phases of the project. The City of Orting setback the Calistoga Levee on the right bank of the Puyallup River in Orting, Washington in order to reconnect the river to 46 acres of floodplain habitat. They also improved fish access to a 1.25 mile long tributary stream (including 55 acres of additional backwater/streambed habitat), installed several log jams along the banks of the river, and planted the floodplain with native trees and shrubs to increase floodplain forest habitat. The goals of the project were to increase the abundance and quality of off-channel habitat to support juvenile salmon rearing and high flow refuge and to improve local flood protection. Prior to the project, the Puyallup River had been disconnected from its floodplain by a manmade levee system for decades, which reduced the active channel width, preventing the river from naturally meandering within its floodplain. Reconnecting the Puyallup River to its floodplain restores natural riverine processes. The project added about 100 acres of floodwater storage and off-channel habitat for salmon. The levee will enhance flood protection while at the same time restoring salmon habitat for three ESA listed species, including ESA threatened Chinook Salmon, steelhead, and Bull Trout. Other species that will benefit include Coho Salmon and Cuttthroat Trout.