News Release
| Release Number: | 98-090 |
| Dated: | 10/30/1998 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- Wetlands along lower Amazon Creek in west Eugene will be restored to a more natural condition under the terms of an agreement signed this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the City of Eugene. The agreement, signed by Eugene City Manager Jim Johnson and District Engineer Colonel Robert Slusar of the Corps, commits the City and the Corps to work cooperatively to construct the wetland restoration project under the authority of Section 1135 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. Under that act, structures or operations of existing Corps projects can be modified to restore environmental benefits. The Corps constructed the Amazon Creek Flood Control Channel in the 1950s to divert floodwaters from Eugene to Fern Ridge Lake. The project also is consistent with the goals of the West Eugene Wetland Plan.
The project will encompass 398 acres of wetlands and uplands along 1.5 miles of Amazon Creek and two other major drainage channels in the area bounded by Terry Street, Greenhill Road, Royal Avenue and the railroad tracks. The levees along Amazon Creek and the associated drainage channels will be moved, and the creek will be allowed to meander as it did historically. The adjacent wetland areas will be exposed to the high-frequency flooding that occurred naturally before the flood damage reduction channel was constructed. Native wet prairie wetland vegetation will be seeded and planted in the restored stream channels and in some of the adjacent wetland areas.
The flood damage reduction function of the existing channels will be maintained. Relocated levees will be constructed around the margins of the project area to limit flooding to the restored wetlands. The new levees also will provide for future extension of the Fern Ridge Path along the edge of the restored area.
The benefits of the recommended project are significant. The restored wet prairie wetlands will provide a unique habitat to support a number of threatened and endangered plant species. Native wet prairies also provide valuable wintering, breeding and migration habitat for waterfowl, birds, small mammals, and the western pond turtle, which is being considered for federal listing as a threatened and endangered species. The restored wetland habitat along lower Amazon Creek will extend the ecological corridor that currently includes wetlands and wildlife habitat managed by the Corps and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at Fern Ridge Lake, The Nature Conservancy's Willow Creek Preserve, the Bureau of Land Management's Bertelsen Slough sites, the City's recently completed restoration of Amazon Creek between Bailey Hill Road and Terry Street, and other locations throughout west Eugene.
The estimated total cost of the project is approximately $5.9 million. Under the agreement, the City of Eugene will provide 25 percent of the cost of the project while the Corps will fund 75 percent. The City's share of the project includes costs for land acquisition, in-kind design, construction, and monitoring services, and a cash contribution. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management also will participate in the project and will provide some of the lands needed.
The bulk of the project construction is scheduled to occur during the summer of 1999. Some additional wetland restoration work, including planting and seeding native plants, will occur in following years. Under the agreement, the effects of the project on the ecology of the area will be monitored for five years after construction by the City, which also will maintain the restored area in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy, partners in the West Eugene Wetlands Plan.