Due to a history of agriculture and levee building, the Tucannon River occupies only a portion of historic floodplain and therefore has diminished habitat for critical salmonid species. The one-mile Project Area 27/28 (RM 22.18 to 23.1) of the Tucannon River represented a major opportunity to uplift habitat for Chinook, steelhead, and bull trout.
Partnering with CTUIR and landowners, W2r worked along a rapid, one-year timeline to advance the project from concept to final design, allowing CTUIR to capitalize on available funding and move toward initial implementation in the 2020 season. W2r designed geomorphically appropriate floodplain reconnection restoration measures for the spawning and rearing of ESA-listed salmonids while balancing its multiple land use needs including grazing, hay production, and conservation.
The design involved a strategic Stage 0 approach along the lower half of the reach; side channel enhancement; low-tech process-based techniques; and large wood placements (in-channel wood, large and small apex jams, channel margin jams, deflector jams, channel-spanning jams, and pinned and unpinned floodplain wood). By developing our design with various restoration treatments, project partners felt heard and it enabled the project to be incrementally phased. Along the one-mile reach, 33-acres of floodplain were enhanced, including the addition of 5,386 meters of side channels.
Client
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
