Chiliwist Creek Restoration
Project Goals and Objectives
Chiliwist Creek has suffered severe degradation as a result of the 2014 Carlton Complex Fires and subsequent flooding and debris flows. The impact of these catastrophic events were compounded by a legacy of human impacts on the creek, including those from mining, livestock grazing, land-use change and development, and over-trapping of beavers. As a result, Chiliwist Creek has become severely incised. Our restoration goals for this project included: reconnecting the severely incised channel to its floodplain, improving native riparian vegetation, and increasing channel complexity.
Structure Construction Elements
In order to accomplish these goals, our team focused on adding woody structure to the creek to help regulate flows, create habitat heterogeneity, and trap sediment to start building the creek back towards its floodplain. Structures included 23 postless wood-jams and 35 post assisted structures, mainly BDAs which were built with two rows of posts and woven with locally-harvested conifer boughs. Other LTPBR techniques included riparian planting in several plots throughout the restoration complex, as well as multiple attempted beaver relocations. We have seen an incredible response from the creek due to our treatments: The BDAs are functioning as designed, serving to widen the creek and trap sediment to raise the stream bed up. Just one year after implementation, we found several BDAs had become entirely buried in sediment. In some places, the creek is nearly reaching its floodplain during high flows and in spring of 2025 we expect the floodplain to be activated. Due to the fast-paced evolution of the creek, adaptive management became a critical component of our restoration strategy. As the creek undergoes change, our team has returned frequently to reassess our restoration strategy, weaving in additional boughs where needed and inserting new posts in spots where entire BDAs were buried. As of fall 2024, beavers have successfully established in the treatment reach and are doing incredible work.
Project Photos
Cover Photo
2024-11-01
This photo set illustrates the changes to the creek from pre-implementation (May 2021) to the present (Nov 2024). Note how the channel is significantly less incised and the BDA is helping store water.
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2022-06-01
We used a hydraulic post pounder to insert BDA posts into the stream bed
2024-11-10
Beavers are building on several structures in our restoration project area. This BDA in particular was remarkably improved by their additions!
2023-06-14
A row of posts is almost entirely buried in sediment as Chiliwist Creek builds back towards the floodplain. This BDA started out with ~4 feet of posts exposed and was nearly buried in just a year!
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2023-12-10
December 2023 - the creek is nearly at its floodplain in places!
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2023-12-01
Adaptive management- a second row of posts is pounded and woven just behind a BDA that has been buried
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2024-04-01
A process-based restoration workshop group pounds a new layer of posts to help with adaptive management
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2021-05-01
The severely incised channel pre the start of restoration