DESCRIPTION
Description
Restore instream and riparian habitats of Bear Creek and Evans Creek through the former Keller Farm property. Reconfigure the channel where it has been widened due to past farm practices, enhance the riparian area, and add large wood to the channel.
Opportunities, Constraints, and Other Considerations
City of Redmond is in the process of certifying some of the site as a wetland mitigation bank. Other activities-such as instream restoration, off channel and backwater habitat, and forested buffer restoration-will occur separate from the mitigation-funded elements.
NOTES
Feasibility study needed to determine scope of project. Seen by local experts as one of the largest opportunities for habitat restoration in Bear Creek. Creation of a wetland mitigation bank is an option here if can be done in a way that meet both wetland and stream restoration needs. Owner may have some interest in selling property to the right buyer. Partially funded.
Effectiveness assumptions assume a 2C drop in water temperature leaving Bear Creek and results from temperature modeling in the Sammamish River. Temperature modeling shows that riparian shading can have an effect -- Appendix B of the Sammamish Corridor Action Plan. Based on modeling, riparian restoration of Bear Creek such that temperature of Bear Creek was 2 degrees C cooler would reduce maximum temperatures in the Sammamish River. Major effect is in Sammmish-5 between the Bear Creek confluence and the RR bridge (effectiveness of 0.2) and lesser effect (0.05) downstream to Blyth Park.
Update 7/2010: Creek relocation is a couple of years out. The cost for the relocation will be around $4.5 million. The total cost of the entire project could range from $15-$25 million.
