Upper Deschutes Restoration Plan and Concept Designs
The South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group (SPSSEG) recently hired W2r to build upon scientific reports and assessments and develop conceptual designs for restoration treatments along 10 miles of the upper Deschutes River and two miles of its four major tributaries. The project addresses known salmonid habitat limiting factors with particular focus on steelhead and coho and water quality impairments (e.g., fine sediment, temperature), and marks a collaborative effort between SPSSEG, the Squaxin Island Tribe, Thurston County, and the principal landowner Weyerhaeuser.
Efforts of W2r coupled existing data review and extensive partner/ stakeholder coordination to determine a prioritization framework to identify the most feasible restoration projects for the upper watershed. During this process, our team recognized that instream restoration may not be able to adequately address the many sources of fine sediment in the reach, and design approaches should therefore enhance sediment-transport dynamics and gravel sorting processes through strategic and economical placement of large wood in the river corridor.
W2r is nearing the completion of the initial contract and has recently advanced the first of the selected project sites through permit-ready plans (60% design). The design involves a combination of ELJs and tipped trees, and we are coordinating with the land manager to harvest wood locally. W2r is also assisting with permitting, including producing a batched CLOMR for the entire reach.
