River restoration work to continue
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August 4, 2013 |
This summer and fall the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
will be leading construction of two river
habitat restoration projects in the braided
reaches of the Kootenai River upstream from
Bonners Ferry.
These two projects are part of a Bonneville
Power Administration funded, multi-year habitat
restoration program in the Kootenai River. In
addition, Burlington Northern Santa Fe is
providing some mitigation funding for one of the
projects.
Kootenai Tribal Council member Gary Aiken Jr.
said, “Through building these projects we hope
to create better habitat conditions in the river
for Kootenai River white sturgeon, burbot and
other native fish.”
A major focus of the restoration program is on
helping to recover endangered Kootenai River
white sturgeon.
“Kootenai sturgeon are spawning in an area of
the river right below Bonners Ferry near
Shorty’s Island,” Councilman Aiken Jr.
explained. “The spawning seems to go okay, but
then something happens between the time the
sturgeon eggs are deposited on the river bottom
and the fish grow up.”
Sue Ireland, Director of the Kootenai Tribe’s
Fish and Wildlife Department explained, “Because
of where the sturgeon are spawning, the eggs are
currently deposited over clay shelves and over
sandy areas on the river bottom. But what
sturgeon need is rock and gravel material where
their eggs can stick when they are first
deposited, and where the larvae can hide for a
while among the rocks after they hatch so they
aren’t eaten by something else.”
The biologists who study Kootenai sturgeon
believe that the eggs aren’t surviving to hatch,
or the eggs are hatching but the larvae aren’t
surviving during the very early stage of their
life.
Two different habitat restoration strategies are
being implemented by the Tribe to address this
lack of survival of the sturgeon eggs or larvae.
One strategy is to place the right kind of rocky
substrate on the river bottom in the meander
reaches of the river where sturgeon are
currently spawning; in other words, to bring
better habitat to the fish. The Tribe will be
implementing a project to do just this near
Shorty’s Island in the winter of 2013 or 2014.
The other approach is to encourage the sturgeon
to migrate and spawn farther upstream where
there the right kind of rocky substrate is
already on the river bottom; that is, to
encourage the fish to go to the better habitat.
One possible reason that the sturgeon don’t
currently move further upstream to the better
habitat above Bonners Ferry is the lack of deep
water and places to rest through the straight
and braided reaches of the river near Bonners
Ferry.
But the challenge with providing deeper water
through the straight and braided reaches is how
to do that without putting any more water into
the river and increasing the risk of flooding.
To meet this challenge the Tribe, working with
multi-disciplinary teams of biologists,
hydrologists, engineers, modelers, and river
restoration experts, came up with the idea of
creating a chain of pools through the straight
and braided reaches.
“The idea,” said Ireland, “is to create a sort
of ladder of deep pools that sturgeon and other
fish can use by moving upstream from pool to
pool. The pools will provide deep water for
sturgeon to rest and feed as they move upstream
and to stage for spawning."
One of the two river restoration projects being
built this summer, called the Middle Meander
Project, includes development of these deep
pools.
The pools will be created through a construction
of fin shaped structures that will help direct
water away from the riverbank and minimize
erosion, while also helping scour and maintain
the pools. The 2013 project will also include
some excavation work to create an especially
deep pool.
The areas between the fin shaped structures will
create eddies and will be shaped into alcoves
that will provide places for Kootenai sturgeon
and other native fish to rest and feed. These
low flow alcove areas will also support
development of floodplain areas.
Pools created by the 2013 project will link up
with pools created through a similar project the
Tribe constructed in 2012. The 2013 Middle
Meander Project will also include re-grading of
a portion of the riverbank, creation of a
riparian buffer and some fencing to manage
grazing.
The second 2013 project is an extension of side
channel restoration work that was completed in
2011. The project will include the re-grading of
an eroding streambank, riparian plantings, and
improvements to side channel habitat that is
used by a number of different native fish
species.
Although a major focus of the river habitat
restoration work is providing habitat for
Kootenai sturgeon, making sure that there is a
variety of habitats that support burbot and
other native fish is also important to the
Tribe. The chain of pools and other habitat
actions will provide habitat for foraging,
migration and overwintering for other native
fish including burbot and bull trout.
The Tribe will monitor all of the projects over
a number of years to see if they work as they
are supposed to. The Tribe is also coordinating
with Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the
University of Idaho to monitor the biological
response of sturgeon and other native fish to
these and other river restoration projects.
Both projects include work on privately owned
land or require access through private land.
Patty Perry, the Tribal Administrative Director,
said, “We couldn’t implement this project
without the support and cooperation of those
landowners.”
Construction work in the water will take place
during a two to three month period from
September through mid-November because of the
need to do the work during low flow and also due
to Endangered Species Act regulations for some
projects.
Because of this short in-water construction
season work may possibly occur six and sometimes
seven days a week during these two months to
three months.
Construction contractors are currently staging
materials and equipment and will begin land
based construction work in August.
During construction, local residents will see
some increased construction traffic. There will
also be some noise associated with the pile
driving while the fin shaped structures are
being created. Contractors will be pre-drilling
the pile holes to minimize noise disturbance
associated with pile driving.
In addition, local residents may also hear some
heavy equipment noise associated with the bank
re-grading, construction of large wood
structures and related activities. There will
also be increased silt in the river for a short
period of time during the excavation of the
large pool.
Throughout the construction the Tribe’s
contractors will be implementing best management
practices to control silt, site disturbances,
and other impacts from construction.
Councilman Aitken, Jr. said, “The Kootenai River
Habitat Restoration Program is very important to
the Tribe. It will help to restore the Kootenai
people’s resources and culture and provide
multiple short and long term benefits to the
local community.”
Additional information about the project is
available on the Tribe’s website at
www.restoringthekootenai.org. |
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