Improving Habitat by Connecting Restoration Practitioners on the Lower Duwamish River, Seattle WA
Presentation Abstract
Not for the faint of heart, constructing habitat in urban watersheds is complex and requires flexibility in design and ongoing adaptive management for successful outcomes. A recent NOAA sponsored workshop for restoration practitioners involved in habitat restoration in the Lower Duwamish River shared on the ground lessons learned and promising techniques to address challenges. Field visits to sites were planned ahead of the workshop to several projects that ranged from the design phase to under construction to several years post-construction. Projects included a natural resource damage assessment restoration bank established through a public-private partnership (City of Seattle with Bluefield Holdings), a project constructed on private property as part of a NRDA settlement (Boeing), a salmon habitat project (King county and grant sponsors), and a city park/salmon habitat (City of Tukwila and WRIA 9). Design and construction challenges included soil/sediment contamination, archaeological considerations and permitting requirements that were very lengthy. Adaptive management issues post- construction have varied by project and included intense herbivory from geese and nutria, large amounts of debris washing up on sites, greater than anticipated small boat-wake energy resulting in erosion, groundwater seeps, and impacts from homeless encampments. Participants discussed promising techniques to address these challenges and ways to include public access while protecting habitat functions. Overall, urban watershed projects benefit from shared knowledge between restoration practitioners, persistence, flexibility in design and implementation, realistic funding levels, coordination across permitting agencies, innovative approaches and potentially a staged approach to construction.
Session Title
Marine Ecosystem Restoration in the Urban Environment
Conference Track
Protection, Remediation and Restoration
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)
Salmon--Habitat--Washington (State)--Duwamish Waterway
Geographic Coverage
Duwamish Waterway (Wash.); Salish Sea (B.C. and 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
Improving Habitat by Connecting Restoration Practitioners on the Lower Duwamish River, Seattle WA
2016SSEC
Not for the faint of heart, constructing habitat in urban watersheds is complex and requires flexibility in design and ongoing adaptive management for successful outcomes. A recent NOAA sponsored workshop for restoration practitioners involved in habitat restoration in the Lower Duwamish River shared on the ground lessons learned and promising techniques to address challenges. Field visits to sites were planned ahead of the workshop to several projects that ranged from the design phase to under construction to several years post-construction. Projects included a natural resource damage assessment restoration bank established through a public-private partnership (City of Seattle with Bluefield Holdings), a project constructed on private property as part of a NRDA settlement (Boeing), a salmon habitat project (King county and grant sponsors), and a city park/salmon habitat (City of Tukwila and WRIA 9). Design and construction challenges included soil/sediment contamination, archaeological considerations and permitting requirements that were very lengthy. Adaptive management issues post- construction have varied by project and included intense herbivory from geese and nutria, large amounts of debris washing up on sites, greater than anticipated small boat-wake energy resulting in erosion, groundwater seeps, and impacts from homeless encampments. Participants discussed promising techniques to address these challenges and ways to include public access while protecting habitat functions. Overall, urban watershed projects benefit from shared knowledge between restoration practitioners, persistence, flexibility in design and implementation, realistic funding levels, coordination across permitting agencies, innovative approaches and potentially a staged approach to construction.
