Meserve Meadow- Sierra National Forest: Bass Lake, 8 Meadows Project

Anabranch Solutions Design and Construction

Trout Unlimited Funding and Coordination

U.S. Forest Service Partner

State:

California

Stream Name:

Meserve Meadow

Watershed:

San Joaquin Basin: Sub-watershed South Fork Willow Creek

Implementation Date:

Sep. 26, 2023

Treatment Length (m):

300

LT-PBR Structures:

Project Goals and Objectives

Meadows within the Sierra National Forest provide unique and important habitat to several species of plants and animals and provide ecosystem services such as water and sediment storage, and resiliency to floods and fire. Anthropogenic impacts over the last two centuries have led to gully formations and channel incision which has led to the draining and degradation of these Meadows. Our goal is to prevent further incision and channelization within these Meadows and to increase water and sediment retention through channel aggradation, arresting of headcuts and dispersion of water across the meadow. In doing so we hope to increase wetland and meadow species, overall habitat and to restore a more resilient ecosystem.

Structure Construction Elements

All structures were a blend of BDA and PALS, as digging was not permitted due to the archeological significance of the site. These structures consisted of juniper, white pine, woody debris and rock. Leafy materials were used to "stuff" the channel and heavy materials were placed on top to compress the structure and promote aggradation, and overbank flows at high flows. Headcuts were addressed by building structures upstream, creating pooling, and placing rock at the base of the headcut to prevent further scouring. Leafy and heavy materials were also placed directly on the headcut to further armor the channel. Posts were not implemented due to archeological restrictions. The utilization of heavy logs and "locking" materials together were used in place of posts.

Project Photos

Cover Photo