News Release
| Release Number: | 01-046 |
| Dated: | 4/17/2001 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.--The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comment on its proposed plan to restore about 7.5 miles of the Columbia Slough in north and northeast Portland. The purpose of the proposed plan is to improve water quality and create and restore wetlands along a segment of the slough.
As part of its evaluation process, the Corps is requesting public comments on the proposed project prior to beginning work. The Corps has prepared a draft environmental restoration report and environmental assessment, which discusses how the proposed project complies with the Clean Water and Endangered Species acts, as well as numerous other federal regulations, and looks at the overall impact of the project on the affected area.
For a copy of the Corps' Public Notice CENWP-PM-E-01-04, study report and environmental assessment, which describe the proposed project in detail, please write to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CENWP-PM-E, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946. Copies of the public notice and study documents are posted on the Corps' Internet site at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/pm/projects/colslough/.
Written comments should be mailed by May 12, 2001, to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CENWP-PM-E (Lynne Hamilton), P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946. Send e-mail comments to lynne.d.hamilton@usace.army.mil.
The Corps, working with the City of Portland and Multnomah County Drainage District No. 1, proposes deepening the slough, creating wetland benches, replacing culverts and restoring 18 acres of wetlands and adjacent riparian habitat.
This action involves dredging 44,900 cubic yards of sediments from the slough between river miles 8.5 and 16 and creating 9 acres of wetland benches with the dredged sediments. This will result in the creation of 1 acre of new riparian habitat, 11.3 acres of emergent wetland habitat and 1.7 acres of aquatic bottom habitat within the slough. The plan also will restore 18 acres of adjacent wetland and riparian habitat, and replace five culverts to facilitate water flow, lower water levels and create an additional 19.7 acres of emergent wetland habitat in Buffalo and Whitaker sloughs, arms of the Columbia Slough complex. Ecosystem restoration criteria include restoring riparian and emergent wetland vegetation to optimal condition for selected target species, including yellow warbler and invertebrates.
The Columbia Slough is about 18 miles long and is located just south of and parallel to the Columbia River in a highly developed industrial and residential area of north Portland. Levees constructed in the early 1900's cut off flushing from the Columbia River and divided the slough into two parts. The lower slough extends east about eight miles from its confluence with the Willamette River and is outside the project area. The middle and upper portions of the slough are not directly connected to the Willamette and Columbia rivers because of flood damage reduction levees constructed in the early- to mid-1900s. Flow is these upper portions is controlled by pump stations managed by the drainage district.
Several waterfowl species use the Columbia Slough habitat. Raptors such as red-tailed hawk, bald eagle and peregrine falcon are occasional visitors to the area. Game fish include crappie, sunfish and white sturgeon. Juvenile chinook salmon have been seen in the lower slough during the spring, but access to the middle and upper slough is blocked by flood damage reduction structures. The slough is not considered critical habitat for salmonids. Non-game species in the middle and upper portions include sucker, carp, stickle back, pea mouth and cottids.
No threatened or endangered species are known to inhabit the area; migrant peregrine falcon (de-listed) and wintering bald eagle may occasionally be seen in the general vicinity. The Columbia Slough receives limited recreational use, including canoeing, wildlife viewing and fishing.
The Corps also is soliciting comments from federal, state and local agencies and officials, Native American tribes, and other interested parties.