Presenter/s: Wayne Gullstad
Symposium Session: 2024 - 04 Restoring Riverscapes as Complex Habitats that Include Humans
Topics covered: community involvement and riparian
ABSTRACT
Cherry Creek was transformed into a ditch in the 1930s with the intent of improving the conveyance of water post-flood. It supports runs of three types of salmon plus steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. It is regarded by Wild Fish Conservancy, Sound Salmon Solutions, and Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife as a very important target for fish-enhancement restoration.
King County Drainage District No. 7 (DD7) lies adjacent to Cherry Creek. The Drainage District manages a levee and pump station that protects Cherry Valley from flooding during certain times of the year. The levee, also built in the 1930s, is of suboptimal design and in need of repair.
The Cherry Creek restoration project and the DD7 levee restoration project are both critical to their constituents. However, neither project was considered viable…until they sought to collaborate.
The Cherry Creek and DD7 teams could not be more different in their objectives. In fact, those constituencies typically find themselves on opposing sides of fish- or drainage-related projects. In this case, they found synergies between the projects that not only made both viable, but created a pathway to further projects that will benefit both fish and drainage. The result of the collaboration is a successful project. The current phase of the Cherry Creek Project (about 1/3 complete) includes restoration along 3,000 feet of creek and a rebuild of 1,800 feet of levee. The restoration work involves reshaping banks to increase the aquatic zone, addition of large woody debris, removal of invasive plants species, and establishment of a vegetated buffer. Subsequent work will restore another 4,000 feet of Cherry Creek and rebuild an equivalent amount of levee.
The Cherry Creek Project serves as an example of finding creative synergies in salmon enhancement projects. Finding ways to provide benefits to erstwhile opponents simply means your project has a greater chance of being accepted.