Kimball Creek is impaired for temperature and dissolved oxygen; the former directly impacts the latter. Establishing native vegetation along the creek will help to provide shade and prevent additional warming and the corresponding decrease in D.O. Currently, blackberry separates the creek from a large, intact, native-dominated forested area at the proposed project site. This project will create continuity and connectivity between this high-quality habitat and Kimball Creek

One of the landowners will contribute time and equipment to clear the blackberry from a large portion of the riparian area to be restored (14,600 s.f.). This constitutes a 12% in-kind match. We will then install weed-control fabric on the steep bank down to the waterline, and 300 live stakes at 3-foot centers. In the flat area we will install 140 trees at 10-foot-centers and 767 shrubs at 4-foot-centers. We will maintain the project with at least twice-annual visits for a period of three years after installation, including removal of weed-control fabric once the live stakes are established enough to preclude re-establishment of blackberry.