.... Specialising in reducing accelerated erosion

Landslide Restoration in Domestic Watershed, Adjacent to Fish Bearing Stream

HEART CREEK PROJECT

Location: Fauquier, British Columbia

Client: Pope & Talbot Ltd. Nakusp Division

Objective: To address slope stability, control seepage on the slide face and reduce
surface erosion and sediment input to Heart Creek. To restore riparian zone cover and function in order to improve local fish habitat conditions.

Heart Creek is a domestic watershed for the town of Fauquier B.C., located in Southeast British Columbia. Heart Creek also provides habitat to four valued species of fish: kokanee, rainbow trout, longnose dace and bull trout. Heart Creek flows into the Upper Arrow Lake west of Fauquier. The valley walls in this location show evidence of what appears to be forestry related instability due to problems with road drainage structures. The failures were caused by diverted water on the old forestry road system during the spring of 1994. The slide travelled all the way down to Heart Creek, a distance of about 160m.

Pope & Talbot Ltd. retained Terra Erosion Control Ltd. in June 1999 to develop a prescription for soil bioengineering treatment of the sites. The project was implemented in the fall of 2000 and completed in the spring of 2001. A combination of the following species were used to build the structures: Salix scouleriana, Populus balsamifera ssp. Trichocarpa and Cornus sericea. The following structures types were installed: live pole drain, fascines, brush layers, live check dams and live sediment traps. Planting of native seedlings and broadcast seeding was also applied to the site. The site was then monitored during the summer and fall of 2001. First year growth was pruned, leaving 6 to 8 buds per stem, to help balance root and stem growth in the late fall of 2001. In July 2003, the site was revisited and the results found were excellent. The site showed fully functioning structures; live pole drain systems were working well, and live sediment traps and check dams were effective in accumulating sediment and reducing water velocity.

 
 
sites layout map


 
Site preparation scaling, Fall 2001

 

Installation of live pole drain system

Installation of drain fascines structures

 

Construction of live sediment trap

 

Construction of live check dam

Mycorrhiza fungus inoculation on contour
fascines/brush layer structure

 

Inoculated contour fascines/brush layer structure

 

Site lower section, summer 2001

 

Growth on brush layer / contour fascines, fall 2001

 

Site upper section, summer 2001

 

Growth on live pole drain system, summer 2001

 

Brush layers/contour fascines, summer 2003

 

Brush layers/contour fascines, below head scarp summer 2003

 

Upper site looking down, summer 2003

 

Live pole drain, summer 2003

 

Live check dam, summer 2003

 

 

Lower site, summer 2003

 

Live sediment trap, summer 2003

 

 

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Landslide Restoration in a Domestic Watershed