This November, the Recovery Board held two site tours of completed SRFB habitat restoration projects. It was a great chance to observe restoration outcomes and learn about the implementation process from the people who knew the projects best.
Some of the project’s 950 acres of floodplain. Beavers have already moved in!
Our first tour was of a 2022 SRFB project on the Yakima River mainstem near Toppenish. This Yakama Nation project reconnected 10 miles of relic side channels to the mainstem which should allow the river to restore natural floodplain function on 950 acres of riparian forest, grassland, and wetland habitat.
A former relic side channel, newly wetted up
The construction crew had just completed excavation in October, so our tour was one of the first opportunities to see the project in its finished state. Even better, thanks to our unusually wet fall (though it didn’t rain on the day, lucky us!), the channels were all wetted up. It made for quite an inspiring sight to see side channels with flowing water where it otherwise would have been dry.
A large wood structure where the side channel meets the mainstem
We also got to observe the large wood structures at the new side channel inlets and outlets that will ensure the side channels stay connected to the mainstem for many years to come.
Group photo courtesy of Yakama Nation Fisheries Public Relations Specialist, Michael-David A. Bushman
A big thanks to the project lead, Tom Elliott, for presenting on the tour—we look forward to seeing how the site responds to this project.
Former site of Bruton Diversion Dam–looking good 15+ years later!
Our second tour was of multiple projects on Taneum Creek, a tributary to the Yakima River in Kittitas County near Thorp. Once again, we dodged the rain! We first visited the former site of the Bruton Diversion Dam, a fish passage barrier near the mouth of Taneum Creek. The dam was taken out with a 2007 SRFB project—quite a ways back! It’s easy to take for granted today, but that dam removal was a vital first step before any habitat restoration work could help fish upstream.
The majority of our tour focused on that habitat restoration work, especially adding large wood to the stream. Large wood has many benefits for fish, including providing shelter from predators, slowing down water, trapping sediment, keeping spawning gravels from getting flushed downstream, raising the stream depth, and the creation of more deep pool habitat.
Alex Conley walks towards large wood holding back water in the Heart K Ranch reach.
Kelly Clayton presents at the Heart K Ranch reach
We visited three sites where the Yakama Nation had added large wood to the creek between 2010 and 2021, including two SRFB projects (Ragland & Heart K Ranch). It was a great chance to see how positively the stream has responded—a headcut has disappeared, many deep pools have formed, and a permanent side channel has developed through a riparian meadow. A ringing endorsement for process-based restoration.
Scott Nicolai presents at the Section 2 Meadow side channel
We also discussed projects that are happening/planned further up the creek—the work continues! A big thank you to our many presenters who made this tour come together.
Thank you to everyone who joined us! Your turnout made the events worth organizing. If you would like to be on our contact list for future site tours, please reach out to cmayer@ybfwrb.org.
Ragland Reach