Author(s): Paul De Vries; Kevin Fetherston; Sue Madsen; Angelo Vitale
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Abstract: Benewah Creek runs through a valley floor that has experienced logging, clearing, grazing, and beaver trapping. Floodplain test pits provided critical evidence that the current entrenched state of the channel was also the pre-settlement condition where the valley floor formed predominantly through aerial rather than previously thought fluvial deposition. Beaver appear to have been a significant factor controlling floodplain connectivity and maintaining a mosaic of vegetation through flow obstructions, rather than channel grade control. Avulsion rather than meandering appears to be the primary channel change agent. We used this corresponding natural template as the basis for designing restoration measures, including reoccupying two relict channels as main and side channel habitats, re-engaging and re-vegetating a floodplain swale, and distributing modular wood structures emulating the local hydraulic effects of beaver dams and wood jams. Our design is intended to give the system a kick-start and allow natural processes to take over in the long run.
Year: 2009