DESCRIPTION
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group (Mid-Columbia Fisheries) and the Yakama Nation are proposing a floodplain restoration project on North Fork Manastash Creek, a right bank tributary to the Upper Yakima River, located on the LT Murray Wildlife Area near Ellensburg, WA in Kittitas County. Alluvial stream reaches on the east slope of the Cascade mountain range are often poorly connected to associated floodplains. This typically stems from road construction, logging and grazing. These practices often included removal of instream wood, riparian logging of large trees, stream channel relocation, creation of revetments and informal levees associated with roads, and decades of livestock grazing that prevented reestablishment of functional riparian habitat. Wood is a critical component of stream ecosystems. The project will place approximately 2,000 pieces of woody material via helicopter along four miles of stream to restore in-channel complexity, reverse channel incision and re-engage the creek with its floodplain. Log structures can be cost-effective applications that reduce stream velocities at high flows, thereby trapping sediment to help reverse channel incision. NF Manastash Creek is within the historic range for ESA-listed Middle Columbia River Steelhead. Manastash Creek is an important Yakima River tributary, which drains a 100-square mile watershed in Kittitas County lying west of Ellensburg, Washington. Approximately 30 miles of potential high-quality salmonid habita
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group and the Yakama Nation implemented a floodplain restoration project on 5.5 miles of North Fork Manastash Creek, a tributary to the Yakima River in the LT Murray Wildlife Area in Kittitas County. The partners installed 2,066 cut logs and logs with root wads via helicopter over a 4-day period in October, 2018. These woody materials create places for fish to rest, feed, and hide from predators. They also slow the stream, which reduces erosion and allows small rocks to settle to the river bed, creating areas for salmon to spawn. Finally, they change the flow of the stream, creating riffles and pools, which give salmon more varied habitat. During seasonal high flows, the woody material will cause flood waters to leave the channel and disperse over large areas. North Fork Manastash Creek is habitat for Middle Columbia River steelhead, which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act.
