The Calapooia Watershed Council (CWC) is partnered with the City of Albany, Mid-Valley River Connections, and Private Landowners, to focus restoration efforts in the middle of the Willamette River system, namely the City of Albany reach.
background
A tremendous effort has already taken place to develop specific, strategic restoration and conservation projects along the mainstem that will protect and add complexity to this simplified Willamette river system, create off-channel salmonid habitat and refuge, significantly improve water quality, and provide opportunities for public awareness and support for basin-wide habitat restoration.
CWC has secured funding from the Bonneville Power administration to complete designs and permitting and begin implementation on a project to replace failed culverts and breach berms impounding relict log-corralling ponds within the Albany Oxbows complex near Third and Fourth Lakes.
These failed culverts and derelict ponds constitute massive fish traps as they are connected to the Willamette River during high flows but as flows recede, water levels drop far too quickly for migratory fish to escape.
objective
This project will replace several large failed culverts acting as fish passage barriers, as well as breach the berms at key locations, improving throughflow and hydrologic connectivity and turning what was a fish trap into a valuable piece of floodplain habitat for salmon, steelhead, and other species
Albany Oxbows is one of our local living classrooms, helping us understand how these areas contribute to the health of local rivers, support native wildlife, and how important these areas are to the ~500 students per year who visit on one of our field trips!
implementation
Many years of work have gone into securing funding and identifying high-priority areas of fish passage barriers in this location. Designs are close to completion and implementation planning is underway with a goal date of Summer 2026.
