Ball Creek Realignment, Restoration and Reconnection with the Kootenai River Boundary County, Idaho. Final Design

摘要

This report presents the results of our design services for the proposed realignment, restoration and reconnection of Ball Creek with the Kootenai River in Boundary County, Idaho. The landscape of the Kootenai River Valley was formed by glaciers and has been shaped and maintained by Kootenai River floods. Prior to European settlement, most of the valley consisted of forests and wetlands maintained through annual, seasonal flooding and recession in a system that historically supported a thriving ecosystem. After European settlement, the area was converted to agricultural use, and significant changes to the floodplain related to dam construction and stream re-channelization have occurred since the late 1800s, causing significant alteration to the historically productive ecosystem throughout the valley. Although restoring or rehabilitating the entire system to its pre-European settlement historical condition is not feasible in the foreseeable future, the current project is intended to re-create, to the extent practicable, a floodplain ecosystem that incorporates river/floodplain connectivity, a natural tributary, an expansion of low-velocity habitats, and expanded wetlands associated with tributary hydrology and Kootenai River backwater flooding. In addition to benefits to the ecosystem in restoring wetlands and plant and animal habitats, the project will benefit the human community both aesthetically and economically through construction operations and, later, increased long-term recreational opportunities.