Event Title
The Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project: A Holistic View After Implementation
Presentation Abstract
The Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project located in the Snohomish River Basin, the second largest watershed in Puget Sound, was completed in August of 2015 through a significant levee breach that reconnected a previously cutoff floodplain with tidal inundation. The project area now delivers multiple ecosystem benefits and provides salmon access to 354 acres of estuarine wetlands and improved access to 16 miles of upstream rearing and spawning habitat. Completion of the project achieves close to one third of the ten-year target for estuary restoration of the Snohomish. The principle constructed elements involved the construction of a 3,950 ft setback levee and the lowering of 1,500 ft of existing levee that included a 200 ft breach. Additional interior and adjacent site work included stream and channel restoration, wave attenuation berm construction, native planting, topographic reconstruction, tidegate sealing, and stormwater treatment pond and infra-structure construction. This project, which required twenty years to come to fruition, would not have been possible without the support of multiple partners across agencies and communities. At the same time, this project overcame multiple challenges, with contexts and solutions that can provide practical observations to all concerned with estuarine and salmon recovery in the Salish Sea. In addition, the story of the Qwuloolt project offers a springboard for productive discussion around adaptive technical as well as political, social, economic, and cultural approaches in the habitat recovery process. This talk will provide an overview of the partnerships, scoping, funding, design, implementation, and lessons learned associated with one of Puget Sound’s largest restoration projects to be recently completed.
Session Title
Challenges and opportunities related to habitat enhancement, restoration, and ecosystem productivity in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
Habitat
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Estuarine restoration--Environmental aspects--Washington (State)--Snohomish River Watershed; Environmental impact analysis--Washington (State)--Snohomish River Watershed
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Snohomish River Watershed (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
The Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project: A Holistic View After Implementation
2016SSEC
The Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project located in the Snohomish River Basin, the second largest watershed in Puget Sound, was completed in August of 2015 through a significant levee breach that reconnected a previously cutoff floodplain with tidal inundation. The project area now delivers multiple ecosystem benefits and provides salmon access to 354 acres of estuarine wetlands and improved access to 16 miles of upstream rearing and spawning habitat. Completion of the project achieves close to one third of the ten-year target for estuary restoration of the Snohomish. The principle constructed elements involved the construction of a 3,950 ft setback levee and the lowering of 1,500 ft of existing levee that included a 200 ft breach. Additional interior and adjacent site work included stream and channel restoration, wave attenuation berm construction, native planting, topographic reconstruction, tidegate sealing, and stormwater treatment pond and infra-structure construction. This project, which required twenty years to come to fruition, would not have been possible without the support of multiple partners across agencies and communities. At the same time, this project overcame multiple challenges, with contexts and solutions that can provide practical observations to all concerned with estuarine and salmon recovery in the Salish Sea. In addition, the story of the Qwuloolt project offers a springboard for productive discussion around adaptive technical as well as political, social, economic, and cultural approaches in the habitat recovery process. This talk will provide an overview of the partnerships, scoping, funding, design, implementation, and lessons learned associated with one of Puget Sound’s largest restoration projects to be recently completed.
Comments
www.qwuloolt.org