As a series of atmospheric rivers pushed through the region, excessive runoff proved the success of one of the largest habitat restoration projects in the lower Columbia River’s history.
Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, an expanse of wetlands spanning more than 1,000 acres east of Washougal, previously made its neighbors vulnerable during heavy rainfall. Gibbons Creek, a Columbia River tributary, would pour over the banks of its levee and flow onto port, city and private property. The Port of Camas-Washougal would then pump excess water into the Columbia River.
The Steigerwald Reconnection project, 965 acres of restoration completed in 2022, now allows excess water to naturally drain into the Columbia River, feeding the floodplain along the way.
“The restoration work completed at Steigerwald was designed to work with nature, not against it,” Chris Collins, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership project manager, said in an email. “High-water events, such as the rain we are experiencing, were anticipated during design.”
Southwest Washington was drenched through this morning, with Clark County receiving up to 2½ inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Portland.
This streamed into hundreds of acres of Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge’s wetland habitat, providing a safe haven for waterfowl and juvenile salmon, Collins said. Before the reconnection project, the site resembled a hayfield and provided little habitat for wildlife.
The project expanded the refuge by 160 acres and shed more than 2 miles of its obsolete levees. By the end of winter, the volunteers, student groups and professional crews will have planted more than 700,000 native tress and shrubs across the site, Collins said.
New artificial banks protect habitats from the Port of Camas-Washougal’s industrial park and wastewater treatment plant. A concrete channel along Gibbons Creek was excised, as was a fish ladder at the creek’s confluence with the Columbia River. Segments of state Highway 14 were raised to the Columbia River’s 500-year flood level.
Since the reconnection project concluded, the ecosystem has rebounded.
The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership installed two fish monitors spanning Gibbons Creek’s main channel to detect tagged salmon, though data isn’t available yet.
However, staff and visitors have observed growth firsthand.
Last month, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership personnel spotted coho salmon weaving upstream Gibbons Creek while they crossed a channel bridge. Beavers, too, are returning to Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, some of whom have built a lodge near a levee, Collins said. Birders have reported seeing at least two new bird species since the restoration concluded.
Source: Columbian
