Wolf Creek Community Alliance: Creek Restoration

Wolf Creek Community Alliance

home

events & news

creek restoration & trails

water quality monitoring

Creek Restoration and Trails

Creek restoration can provide enormous benefits to the community: it is a win-win proposition for which we can gain widespread community support. A restored creek...

offers recreational opportunities, such as walking and bicycle trails
increases economic vitality by drawing tourists and encouraging residents to spend more time downtown
provides a relaxing and revitalizing environment, and a cool sanctuary in the summer
increases the value of the creek as a wildlife habitat
offers better flood control
offers opportunities for community involvement
offers educational opportunities for students as an outdoor laboratory
increases community pride

The restoration of Wolf Creek is in its early stages. You can help increase local knowledge and expertise by learning more about creek restoration yourself, and passing this knowledge on to others. To help you do this, this page points you to books, reports, and videos about creek restoration, as well as examples of creek restoration projects. There is also information about the Wolf Creek Parkway alignment study, the initial city effort for determining possible trail routes and planning possible restoration.

In addition, you may want to download the excellent and informative PowerPoint slideshow "Creek Restoration and Feasibility Studies: An Outline for Creek Restoration Activities" created for WCCA by Jorgen Blomberg of the hydrology consulting firm Phillip Williams & Associaties. (Warning: it's a very large file).

A restored urban creek, treated as an amenity. Move mouse over image to see "before" condition. Images courtesy of Urban Advantage

Restoration plans for Wolf Creek

Restoring Wolf Creek to a living stream, with its potential as a recreational, economic, and community-building resource fully realized, will be a long-term process requiring patience, commitment, and widespread community involvement. It will likely involve several distinct projects, each dealing with a certain section of creek or section of a tributary such as Peabody Creek.

An important first step in the restoration process has been completed: The City of Grass Valley and the RRM Design Group have completed the Wolf Creek Parkway Alignment Study and Conceptual Master Plan, which will be the basis of subsequent efforts to build trails and parkway amenities, remove non-native vegetation, clean up trash, possibly daylight sections of the creek, create creek access points, and so on.

Now that the alignment study is completed, we anticipate further, more detailed studies. Then, restoration and trail-building will likely be accomplished on a project-by-project basis, with each project covering a certain portion of the creek within the city limits and involving these basic steps:

Bring together stakeholders to settle on common goals.
Conduct feasibility studies.
Choose among options and develop a specific plan.
Secure funding from state and federal agencies.
Carry out the project.

Learning about creek restoration

The books, reports, and videos listed below are all excellent sources of information about the theory and practice of creek restoration.

Creek Restoration and Feasibility Studies: An Outline for Creek Restoration Activities
A PowerPoint slideshow created for WCCA by Jorgen Blomberg of the hydrology consulting firm Phillip Williams & Associates. Includes much practical information about methods, goals, feasibility studies, funding, etc. Download it! (a large file, not recommended for dial-up connections; PowerPoint needed to view).

PowerPoint Presentation on stream restoration, created especially for WCCA!
This is the presentation made by a representative of the Dept. of Water Resources at WCCA's May meeting. Download it! (a large file, not recommended for dial-up connections; PowerPoint needed to view).

Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and Practices By the Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group (FISRWG). Download individual chapters from this document free from the USDA website.
Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams By Richard Pinkham, Rocky Mountain Institute. This report reviews the benefits, challenges, and costs of "daylighting" formerly culverted or buried streams, and includes case studies of several dozen projects from around the U.S. and internationally. (September 2000) Download the pdf file from the Rocky Mountain Institute library.
Urban Stream Restoration An information-packed video tour of six urban stream restoration sites. Background information on how the projects were funded and organized with community involvement and the history and principles of restoration. Full of beautiful examples of restored streams with detailed instructions and graphic illustration. Includes examples of stream restoration in very urbanized areas, recreating stream shapes and meanders, creek daylighting, soil bioengineering and ecological flood control projects. The tour is led by Ann Riley, a nationally known hydrologist, stream restoration professional and executive director of the Waterways Restoration Institute in Berkeley, Ca. Order it!.
Restoring Streams in Cities By Ann Riley, a nationally known hydrologist, stream restoration professional and executive director of the Waterways Restoration Institute in Berkeley. This is the creek restorer's bible. From one review: "This unique book is a comprehensive and detailed guide to how to go about restoring streams that have been degraded by channelization, excessive erosion or sedimentation, and undergrounding into storm drains. It covers everything from how to form Friends groups and develop public support through engineering and design choices. Order it from Amazon.

Examples of Creek Restoration Projects

San Luis Obispo: Mission Plaza and San Luis Obispo Creek
Before it was restored, San Luis Obispo Creek in downtown San Luis Obispo was much like Wolf Creek today: neglected, full of trash, not integrated into the community. The creek corridor was narrow and closely flanked by private property and structures. Now, the creek is the center of a vibrant downtown, the "physical, cultural, and spiritual heart of the city."

Examples from the Urban Streams Restoration Program
Many creek and stream restoration projects have received funding through the Urban Streams Restoration Program of the Department of Water Resources. The DWR has some illustrated examples of these projects on their Web site.

Salt River in Phoenix, Arizona
Like Wolf Creek, restoration of this urban stream is a long-term project.