DESCRIPTION
This project developed preliminary designs (30% design drawings) for eight large wood trapping structures that would increase pool frequency, retain spawning gravels, provide overhead cover, and increase floodplain connectivity in one reach of the West Fork Teanaway River and two reaches of the North Fork Teanaway River in Kittitas County.
Streams with legacies of splash damming, timber harvest, and large wood removal lack the key large wood pieces that would otherwise act to trap smaller pieces. In this, the first phase of large wood trapping in the Teanaway Forks, we identified two reaches in the North Fork Teanaway River and one reach in the West Fork Teanaway River to serve as pilot reaches. We worked with AMEC, Inc. and Waterfall Engineering to design large wood trapping structures to function as key pieces at meander bends and at slope breaks within the rivers. In conjunction with this effort, we held two public meetings to discuss the role of large wood in fish habitat with Teanaway watershed residents.
This project designed habitat improvements for spring Chinook, steelhead/ rainbow trout, bull trout, and cutthroat trout.