1. Waterline Relocation
GOAL: Relocate private waterline from RR grade and trestles to clear the way for the habitat restoration project.
ACTIONS: Relocate and upgrade the waterline. The new waterline will travel from the source, along the Highway 101, Gardiner Road and Cemetery Road right of ways before hooking back into the existing system.
2. Maynard Nearshore Restoration
GOAL: Restore 1,800 feet of marine shoreline impacted by an abandoned RR grade to improve habitat conditions for salmon.
ACTIONS: Removal of portions of the RR grade, all shoreline armoring, a creosote railway trestle and a defunct tide gate. Three small creek mouths in the area will be restored and reconnected to the bay. Old concrete bulkheads and cobbles “paving” the beaches will be removed and replaced with sands and gravels suitable for forage fish spawning and shellfish recruitment.
3. North Site Estuary Restoration (Completed 2008)
GOAL: Return a former salt marsh that was filled with wood waste and industrial fill back to salt marsh to benefit juvenile salmon and birds.
ACTIONS: In 2008, 25,000 cubic yards (2000 dump trucks!) of fill and wood waste were removed from the historic salt marsh. Sawdust and veneer chips were disposed of in the marsh in the mid 1900s. Groundwater seeping through the wood waste ‘leached' compounds like sulfur and ammonia which created toxic conditions for aquatic life in an existing tidal channel adjacent to the wood waste pile.
4. South Site Estuary Restoration (Completed 2008)
GOAL: Create healthy salt marsh habitat to replace the habitat lost by the construction of Highway 101 in order to increase juvenile salmon and waterfowl habitat.
ACTIONS: In 2008, machines excavated soils down to salt marsh elevations to connect the new marsh to Salmon Creek and Discovery Bay. Some of the excavated material was moved to an upland disposal site on the same property, and some was hauled off site.
5. Salmon Creek Channel Restoration (Completed 2004)
GOAL: Repair a straightened channelized section of Salmon Creek important for Summer Chum spawning.
ACTIONS: In 2003 and 2004, a new, re-meandered channel 2,500 feet long was constructed by the Jefferson County Conservation District. Logjams were installed and native trees and shrubs were planted along the bank by NOSC. The site is currently enrolled in the Conservation District’s CREP program planting a 180 foot riparian buffer along a 3,500 foot length of stream. This 29 acre buffer is now home to over 18,000 trees.
6. Snow Creek Riparian Restoration (Completed 2012)
GOAL: Increase stream health and riparian health in the lower reaches of Snow Creek.
ACTIONS:
Remove invasive species. Plant native species and maintain the planting. NOSC’s
WCC crew prepped the site by removing a 15’ wall of blackberry and
scalping reed canary grass. School groups and community volunteers helped
plant over 5,500 native trees and shrubs at the site which are maintained by
the WCC crew.
GOAL: Improve function of the Snow Creek estuary and salt marsh and their connection to Snow Creek.
ACTIONS: Remove RR grade fill and 3 RR trestles. Remove berms, fill and septic field along the banks of Snow Creek. These fills have changed the hydrology of the area so that Snow Creek has no connection to adjacent salt marsh and have disrupted important tidal processes that compromise the marsh.
8. Septic System Relocation
GOAL: Relocate the drainfield near Snow Creek and wetlands.
ACTION: The septic drainfield for the Valley View Motel is located on land along Snow Creek and Discovery Bay that is slated for habitat restoration. The landowner is Jefferson Land Trust and the septic field sits in an easement on the property. Significant effort and cooperation from the Motel owner have resulted in NOSC being able to build a new septic system with the drainfield located at an upland site for the Motel.
9. Proposed Olympic Discovery Trail Route
GOAL: Install an important link in the Olympic Discovery Trail which will increase recreational and public access opportunities around Discovery Bay.
ACTIONS: Construct a multi-use trail in the Department of Transportation right-of-way and on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife property. This project is led by Jefferson County Public Works and Peninsula Trails Coalition.
