DESCRIPTION
This project identified alternatives for improving fish habitat while enhancing floodplain water storage along a 1.5-mile reach of Swauk Creek and a 1-mile reach of Iron Creek. It investigated options for enhancing in-stream habitat and floodplain function within the constraints of the existing road system, although two of the Swauk Creek alternatives could only be realistically implemented if done in conjunction with major roadwork on Hwy. 97.
The Swauk Creek watershed is heavily-impacted by roads, most notably Highway 97, which constrains Swauk Creek for more than 12 miles. Despite a legacy of degradation from mining, timber harvest, beaver removal, and road construction, Swauk Creek and its tributaries are productive streams that provide spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead and Chinook. A primary limiting factor of fish habitat in the Swauk Creek system is low flow volume in late summer.
The alternatives were designed to enhance groundwater storage, increase in-stream habitat complexity, and improve riparian condition. For Swauk Creek, the alternatives range from a large "channel-lift" project that would raise the streambed elevation along the length of the reach, to an alternative that would excavate terraces adjacent to the stream, essentially lowering the floodplain to match the elevation of the incised channel. Estimates of increased water availability ranged from 1 cfs for 13 days under the full channel lift alternative, to no increased storage under the floodplain lowering alternative. None of the alternatives identified for Iron Creek were anticipated to increase base flows. All of the Iron Creek alternatives involve the addition of large wood to the system.