Straightening things out
Sometimes straightening things out is exactly the wrong way to go about solving a problem, especially when it comes to making a salmon stream work the way it’s supposed to.
A good example is Bethel Creek, a tributary of the New River, a stone’s throw from the ocean just south of Bandon. It’s an important coho salmon stream that descends out of the coastal mountains, then flows through private farmland on its way to the sea.
Years ago, a previous landowner straightened the stream and diverted it from its original channel, hoping to make the water pass more efficiently through his land. Unfortunately as a result, water began flowing faster and flushing out the logs, rocks and other in-stream habitat that juvenile coho salmon need to survive. The water also spilled out into the fields, where young salmon would become stranded.
Working with the current landowner, the conservation group South Coast Watersheds is literally putting the stream back in its place. The project is funded in part by an $18,750 grant from PGE’s Habitat Support customers. Habitat Support funds are administered by The Nature Conservancy.
“We’re trying to think of what this system looked like when it produced thousands of coho salmon,” said the group’s coordinator Harry Hoogesteger. To do that, they looked at aerial photographs that showed where the old channel flowed, and with the help of engineering consultants, developed a restoration plan.
Last summer, heavy equipment was brought in to redirect Bethel Creek back into about a mile of its original sinuous channel. They also added logs, root wads and rocks to provide fish habitat, then came back in the fall and planted native vegetation along the stream banks for shade and erosion control.
Now the natural stream processes will be unleashed, creating deep pools for fish to seek refuge from the heat of summer, capturing spawning gravel moving down from the headwaters, and reconnecting the channel with groundwater to keep water temperatures cool.
“What we are trying to do is restore the process and not have a static system,” Hoogesteger said. In other words, now that Bethel Creek is back in its original curvy channel, the situation has finally been straightened out.
For an additional $2.50 donation per month, renewable power customers can directly support projects like this by choosing the Habitat Support option. The funds are administered by The Nature Conservancy. You can add Habitat Support to your renewable option online.