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<br /> <br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER <br /> <br />January 20, 2011 <br /> <br /> City of Eugene <br /> 777 Pearl Street, Room 105 <br /> Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 <br /> (541) 682-5010 <br /> (541) 682-5414 (FAX) <br /> www.eugene-or.gov <br /> <br />IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION <br /> <br />AFTER 50 YEARS THE WILLAMETTE RIVER AND DELTA PONDS NATURAL AREA ARE RECONNECTED <br />IVY REMOVAL AT ALTON BAKER PARK MAKES ROOM FOR NATIVE PLANTS <br />EPARK LAUNCHES PARKING SURVEY FOR DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES <br />CITY HOME SHOW BOOTH PROMOTES FAMILY AND FOOD FRIENDLY LANDSCAPES <br /> <br />AROUND THE CITY <br /> <br />After 50 Years the Willamette River and Delta Ponds Natural Area are Reconnected <br />Over five decades ago, gravel mining cut off what is now the Delta Ponds natural area from the flow of water from the <br />Willamette River. Today, after 10 years of planning and phased implementation, water is once again flowing from the <br />Willamette through the Delta Ponds – creating 2.2 miles of valuable side-channel habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon <br />and a wide variety of other species. <br /> <br />To make this happen, the City of Eugene has led a large-scale <br />effort over the past 10 years to remove barriers and create new <br />paths for water to flow through the ponds. The primary goals of <br />this floodplain restoration project are to provide backwater <br />overwintering habitat for juvenile salmon, Western pond turtles, <br />neotropical migratory song birds, native riparian plant <br />communities, and other species. Now juvenile Chinook salmon <br />can spend time growing in the safety of this side-channel before <br />returning to the river. <br /> <br />The City has balanced these goals with risks of flooding and <br />protection of roadways, utilities, and other infrastructure. To <br />provide for public safety, the project was designed with gated <br />culverts that can be closed if river flows reach levels high enough <br />to cause potential damage. A large culvert installed under <br />Water flowing from Willamette River into Delta Ponds <br />Goodpasture Island Road this summer provided the final <br />connection. <br /> <br />Now that water is flowing through the system, City of Eugene staff are verifying pre-project hydraulic models to <br />determine how best to operate the culverts in order to provide the maximum benefit for fish without causing any <br />damage or flooding downstream. To monitor changes to water levels, staff installed several gauges in the ponds and <br />sloughs and are using photo documentation to record water levels at each of the culverts and at various locations <br />throughout the ponds so that they can better understand how changes to the flows through the culverts impact water <br />levels throughout the pond system. <br /> <br />As Willamette River levels ebb and flow throughout the coming months, City staff will continue to make adjustments <br />to how they operate the culverts based on the observed results. Over time staff will be able to learn how the <br />hydrology of this new system functions and will be better able to meet the goals of providing fish and wildlife habitat <br />without causing flooding or other damage to key infrastructure. <br /> <br />For more information, contact Natural Resource Enhancement Coordinator Lauri Holts at 541-682-4925 or <br />lauri.j.holts@ci.eugene.or.us <br /> <br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 <br />January 20, 2011 <br />