The Palensky Restoration Project is located in Burlington Bottoms on Reach F, directly across from the southern end of Sauvie Island. The site is owned by the Bonneville Power Administration and managed by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW). Additional project partners include the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (WMSWCD), Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and private landowners.
Constructed in 2021 and 2022, the project restored fish access to over two-hundred acres of floodplain wetland while enhancing climate change resiliency of that habitat for multiple species, all while reducing maintenance requirements for the operation of a water control structure and a private road. The project removed the water control structure, replaced two culverts with bridges, lowered the marshplain, and installed wood habitat structures, beaver dam analogs, hibernacula, and turtle basking structures. The project also included a feasibility study for a wildlife underpass below Highway 30.
The water control structure was replaced by W2r's design of a naturalized channel with wood elements. The design aims to encourage beaver use and replicate natural floodplain connectivity/hydroperiod/fish passage. The natural connection has functioned as intended through the dry 2023 summer with continued beaver use and upstream pond levels persisting through the late summer.
This project received an Oregon DSL Wetland Project Award.
AWARD
Oregon DSL Wetland Project Award
Client
CREST
Keywords
Multi-species habitat enhancement, fish passage, culvert replacement, bridge construction, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, FEMA No Rise analysis/certification
