SF Toutle Lower Brownell Reach Restoration
About
This project initiates restoration activities in the Brownell Reach of the SF Toutle River (RM 6.5 to 8.5) which were designed and planned through Project (SRFB #18-1409).
Phase II of this project will address natural processes to benefit ESA-listed Chinook, coho, and steelhead as well as resident and anadromous lamprey, trout, and a dozen other coldwater fish species inventoried in the reach. This project will finalize the design to install instream and floodplain woody materials as well as jumpstart riparian and upland plant succession. The project will install shorter-term instream and off-channel habitat structures as well as island-forming structures aimed at jumpstarting the establishment of mature floodplain forests in the immediate project reach. The Toutle River was denuded in May 1980 by a lahar and it is still struggling to recover. LCFEG is working on a watershed approach to jumpstart the natural recovery of the river by addressing its chronic wood supply shortage.
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These efforts aim to restore floodplain processes that are currently broken in the SFT watershed. There is an extreme lack of existing woody debris and the wood supply isn’t likely to increase for another several decades. Thus, this project aims to add temporary woody structures that will allow vegetation to be established, increase floodplain connectivity and groundwater charging, and increase hyporheic dynamism. These goals will have direct and indirect impacts on fish now and in the future. LCFEG is also developing plans to address habitat needs in the headwaters where we plan to drastically increase wood loading, floodplain connectivity, beaver populations, and riparian vegetation establishment. Combined, this watershed-scale strategy will make the SFT much more resilient to the negative impacts of climate change. Main Project Goals: 1) Increase spawning and rearing (summer and winter) habitat quality and quantity for ESA-listed Fall Chinook, early and late returning coho, and winter steelhead in the SF Toutle River. 2) Accelerate the successional development of mature riparian forests in the SF Toutle floodplain to increase long-term wood supply and restore ecological function to the floodplain habitats.
Spring 2025 Update
Figure 2. Because the ground at this site is so rocky and tough, we have to drill into the ground using an auger at times for plant installation.
Figure 1. LCFEG Restoration Staff smiling before planting at Brownell.
As planting season is winding down, and we are wrapping up with initial revegetation efforts on-site, we are preparing for summer construction season. In summer 2025, LCFEG will continue this large-scale restoration project in the headwaters of the South Fork Toutle, placing over 15,000 trees and 550 structures over 2.8 miles between 2025 and 2026.
2024 Summer Construction
Over the summer of 2024, LCFEG Staff and Partners were hard at work placing 1,748 logs into a 0.6-mile segment of the Brownell Reach of the South Fork Toutle to construct 155 woody structures. Structures range in size from 5 pieces up to 125 pieces of wood each. As fall rains arrive, we look forward to watching the SF recalibrate in response to the wood. The river will sort the gravel, carve pools, create new channels, and over the next 2-3 years it will find a new quasi-equilibrium that the fish will adapt to and start to key into for spawning and rearing. The wood will create some stability that will help Chinook redds make it through the winter without getting scoured out or buried. The structures will also bolster rearing habitat by slowing and diversifying the flow of water in the channel, providing juvenile salmonids with extra resting, hiding, and foraging spots year-round.
Drone flight conducted during the final phases of 2024 summer construction work.
Salvaged critters from the river channel. This summer, before we began working in the channel, we conducted a fish salvage. This effort aimed to relocate all aquatic animals (with a focus on salmonids) downstream of the project location.
Riparian plant pod placement and in-stream construction.
The sediments in the SF Toutle floodplain are primarily minerals and sand and lack nutrients, soil organic matter, fungi, and beneficial bacteria that plants need to thrive. The installation of these plant pods with our log jams aims to kick start riparian recovery at this site.
LCFEG Staff drilling rocks in preparation for 2024 summer in-stream construction. These boulders must be pre-drilled in preparation for securing large-woody-structures in the water column.
This work follows a 2023 discovery of three Spring Chinook redds in the area, signaling that habitat restoration is urgently needed. The South Fork Toutle is one of the few areas where wild-spawning Spring Chinook are found in the Lower Columbia River where they don’t have to navigate dams or truck-and-haul programs, and it’s critical that we continue these efforts to improve and expand their spawning habitat. By enhancing these natural environments, we’re giving these rare fish a fighting chance to thrive in the future!
Target Species
Metrics
Partners | Consultants
Contractors
Funds
Chinook, coho, stee, trout, and lamprey
23.9 acres of floodplain treated, 550 peices of wood placed, over 20,000 native plants installed
Smayda Environmental Associates (SEA), Toutle Lake High School
WA State Recreation and Conservation Office: SRFB
(#21-1061) $911,881.00
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