Ames Creek Restoration

Restoration at Sankey Park

This project occurs on a segment of Ames Creek within Sankey Park, where the stream historically flowed through an old mill dam and sediment-filled log pond.  In 2003, project partners diverted the stream around the mill dam to restore fish passage to upstream habitat, now accessible by winter steelhead, cutthroat trout, and pacific lamprey.  The stream reach through the old mill pond was transformed into 1000 ft. of complex, meandering channel, and enhanced with boulder weirs, log revetments, and cobble rock to restore instream habitat diversity.  The old channel below the dam now connects to the stream during winter flows, providing high flow refugia.  Two seasonal wetlands were created for the project, and wetland grasses seeded in these areas are diverse and vigorous.  Over 10,000 riparian and wetland plants were established throughout the channel and in the mill pond area to enhance habitat quality and to stabilize stream banks.  A total of 2.3 acres were re-vegetated with native riparian and wetland vegetation and continue to be maintained.

The Ames Creek Restoration has been tied closely with the Sweet Home School District’s science education programs, and students continually access the site for biological study.  Sweet Home students were also heavily engaged in planting vegetation at the project throughout 2003 and 2004 to maintain those plantings.  To date, project partners have received only positive feedback from the community about the project.  What’s more, the energy generated from the great success of this project has enabled the partners to prepare for further restoration downstream from the project site, in what is becoming known today as “Ames Creek Fish Passage Restoration Project.”

Fish Passage at Ames Creek

At its mouth, the channel is confined within steeply graded bedrock, and flows through two adjacent barriers to the mainstem South Santiam River.  The upper barrier is a narrow cascade that exhibits extremely high velocities throughout the year, and generates turbulence in a pool immediately below during high flows.  The second barrier is a large plunge pool located further below the cascade that presents significant jump throughout the year.  Passage for winter steelhead and cutthroat trout is severely limited at this site.  Approximately 18.5  miles of spawning and rearing habitat exists above the mouth of Ames Creek.

In the spring of 2006 the SSWC contracted with Inter-fluve Inc. to conduct a feasibility analysis and develop alternative design concepts to address fish passage problems at the mouth and at three culverts located within the City of Sweet Home.  During the process, assistance was granted from agency partners and important feedback was delivered to the SSWC and Inter-fluve.  At the completion of the technical assistance project, a stakeholder meeting was held in Sweet Home with agency personnel and concerned citizens present.  The meeting offered the SSWC an opportunity to release the results of the technical assistance project through a presentation by Mike Burke, PE, Inter-fluve.  The SSWC has secured funding for constructing a rock ramp at the mouth of Ames Creek.  This will simulate an alluvial fan feature that is commonly found at the mouth of streams in the pacific northwest.  The SSWC is working with regulatory agencies at the local, state, and federal level to secure the necessary permits to implement the project.