Tucannon PA 18 - Floodplain connectivity and channel complexity project
394 logs with rootwads were placed along 1.1 miles of the Tucannon River in Project Area 18. Three historic side-channels were reconnected with the mainstem Tucannon. Over 3,000 native plants will be planted in the floodplain.
A helicopter was used to install 158/394 logs. Excavators were used to construct engineered log structures, installing 236/394 logs with root wads. Large wood structures were designed to improve floodplain connectivity and increase structural complexity in the main channel of the Tucannon River. The large wood will priovide overhead cover, velocity refuge, scour new pools, and sort sediment.
Pilot channels were excavated at the upstream end of historic side-channels to increase off-channel habitat quantity for all life history stages of ESA-listed spring chinook, steelhead, and bull trout.
