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Salmon and trout habitat expanded at Skipanon River
August 8, 2007 14-07
News media contact:
- Jim Scheller, Skipanon River Watershed Council, 503-861-3669
jimscheller@charter.net
- Monte Turner, OWEB in Salem, 503-986-0195
Lottery funds help connect stream to floodplain
Construction will be completed this month at two sites that will connect the Skipanon River with its floodplain in order to improve habitat for fish.
The project sites are located between Cullaby Lake and the city of Warrenton in Clatsop County. Juvenile Coho salmon and cutthroat trout use the Skipanon River and Cullaby Lake for year-round habitat. Fish habitat has suffered, though, from a disconnected floodplain.
Beginning in 1904, the river was forced into an unnaturally straight channel, and dredge material piled up on either side of the stream bank, severing the channel from the floodplain.
The stream’s isolation has resulted in intense flooding and insufficient off-channel habitat. In addition, the area lacks large wood pieces in the stream, which provide places for fish to eat and hide from predators.
Landowner Jim Scheller began restoration work in 1997, when he created a pond near the river to enhance wetlands. More recently, other partners have joined him in improving habitat.
The Skipanon River Watershed Council; the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce; Columbia Riverkeeper; Vinson Brothers; engineering firm Mali, Foster, and Alongi; Pacific Coast Seafoods; Warrenton High School; Skipanon Water Control District; and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) have all taken part. OWEB granted $60,000 in Oregon Lottery funds toward the total project cost of $74,900.
Crews took down a section of dike on the east side of the river in one week, finishing July 27. They then distributed 10 chunks of large wood along the stream.
On July 16, crews began to construct a river channel extension, creating an inlet and outlet that connect the Skipanon to the pond created 10 years ago. This new link provides off-channel habitat for juvenile and adult fish. No other off-channel habitat exists within a mile in either direction from the site.
Meanwhile, project partners have been scraping away invasive reed canary grass to make room for native streambank plants. Seeding and planting of vegetation are underway to provide shade, cover for fish, and future large wood pieces.
Seeding began concurrently with construction. Students from Warrenton High School’s natural resource program assist with streambank plantings, which will continue until winter.
Scheller reports that he has noticed fish swimming through the hole where the dike was breached. Already, fish are using the newly available habitat, he said.
“As our family learned more about the salmon and water quality issues in the Skipanon River, we saw an opportunity to restore a little piece of Oregon wetlands and the watershed of the river we love,” Scheller said. “We are grateful for our many partners and supporters,” he said.
Photo Caption:
A newly constructed inlet and outlet connect the Skipanon River to this pond, which provides off-channel habitat for Coho salmon and cutthroat trout.
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