Habitat
restoration gets $10 million
Project
to help endangered suckers on Williamson River
By
STEVE KADEL
H&N Staff
Writer
March 31, 2006
State and federal agencies plan to restore nearly 6,000 acres of former
Klamath County marshland as habitat for endangered suckers.
This
map shows the area where state and federal agencies plan to restore nearly
6,000 acres of habitat for endangered suckers.
Cost for
the six-year project is estimated at $10 million, much of which will be
spent locally.
The
project will result in “profound changes”
for the Williamson River delta, according to the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board, which approved $2 million for the effort.
In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is allocating $1 million
over two years for what fisheries biologist Mark Buettner calls the
highest priority sucker restoration program in the Klamath Basin.
The work involves removing or flattening
sections of dikes along the river and lake.
That will help restore marshland and river bank vegetation, which
officials believe will boost populations of suckers while benefiting other
native fish and wildlife.
Improved water quality and wetland habitat also will be good for flocks of
waterfowl and other birds that migrate through the county along
the Pacific flyway, according to the Nature Conservancy.
That nonprofit group entered 2,155 acres at its Williamson River Delta
Preserve into the federal Wetland Reserve Program this month. The program
provides incentives for private landowners to preserve wetlands on their
property.
An additional $2 million is being sought from the conservation service for
habitat work.
“Our research shows that wetland restoration is providing important
rearing habitat for the endangered fish,” said Mark Stein, the
Conservancy’s Klamath area conservation director. “We’re really
excited to work with our partners across the Basin on full-scale
restoration.
“We’ll be hiring local contractors to do considerable earth work and
we see this as a good opportunity for the community as a whole.”
In allocating its part of funding for restoration, the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board noted that $2 million is significantly more than its
usual grants. However, board members said the potential benefits justify
the expense.
“We evaluate requests critically,” said Roger Wood, OWEB’s grant
program manager. “This one floated right to the top because of the scope
and our perception of the value. It’s a lake-water quality thing.”
The water enhancement board supports the Oregon Plan for Salmon and
Watersheds, which was created in 1997. Money from the Oregon Lottery,
sales of salmon license plates and other sources pays for grants from the
board.
The National Academy of Sciences has identified restoration of lake-fringe
wetlands on the Williamson River delta as a critical step in recovering
Lost River and shortnose suckers. Both are listed as endangered and are a
key part of water allocation debates in the Klamath Basin.
Three pilot restoration projects at the Williamson River Delta Preserve
have proved successful. Parts of dikes constructed in the 1940s to drain
wetlands for agriculture were removed in 2002-2004, bringing water onto
areas as large as 300 acres.
The resulting shallow marshland habitat drew thousands of larval and
juvenile suckers, according to the Nature Conservancy.
“Dredging the historic oxbow on the Goose Bay side of
the delta (will) allow constant, year-round flow,” according to the
project’s Environmental Impact Statement. “Dredging the oxbow would
significantly increase the amount of suitable habitat available to larval
suckers within the delta.”
The plan calls for grading the levee along the Williamson River to develop
a riparian fringe. Riprap from the remaining lakeshore levees also will be
removed.
Klamath County commissioners have signed a letter supporting the project.
