Conservation district working with community

To The Eagle:

Thank you for the article regarding Wahkiakum Conservation District’s and our partners activities in the Skamokawa Watershed. Two projects were highlighted including the Historic Skamokawa Creek Channel Restoration project and the Skamokawa Community Watershed project. The projects were presented from a flood perspective yet both more appropriately address other natural resource concerns.

The Historic Skamokawa Creek Channel Restoration project includes installation of a freshwater inlet structure (completed), upgrading the outlet tidegate structure (in process), assessing the need to improve road crossing culverts inside the project area for improved hydraulic conveyance, improving habitat within the historic channel, and establishing streamside vegetation along the channel. The objectives of the project include improving water quality, improving fisheries habitat, and not exacerbating local flooding.

The installed structures allow for input of freshwater into the system to improve water quality. These structures are also designed to provide juvenile salmon access to this habitat for rearing purposes. The structures do allow for management that can help provide additional storage in the system prior to anticipated flood events and can help drain the system quicker following flood events. While surveying the project site a number of areas along the dikes were identified as concerns for flooding. The Conservation District and Skamokawa Diking District #5 are working cooperatively to restore dike elevation and integrity to its original condition.

Wahkiakum Conservation District is working with the community through the Skamokawa Creek Community Watershed project. This project addresses multiple resource concerns including water quality, salmon recovery, and landowner concerns for flooding and flood damages.

Site specific projects typically include some structural practices including bank shaping and placement of large woody debris coupled with longer term objectives to restore streamside vegetation. The structural practices immediately address concerns for sediment delivery and improving fish habitat. Restoring streamside vegetation provides for long term restoration of natural processes that provide stream bank stability, shade, habitat, and slowing of flood flows. In reality, the projects can do very little to reduce flood elevations but they can improve channel stability resulting in reduced damages when the flood waters recede.

Darin Houpt

District Manager

Wahkiakum Conservation District