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0027J2 . . River: Trees, shrubs along .banks not established Continued from 1A "People around heJ'e said from the begirrni'ng 'It's not gc- ing to hold.' It wasn't " deep enough," said Sh~on Daniel, a former school.bus driver and ditch rider in western La Plata County. "A river does what it's going to do. And this wasn't Mother Nature's best work." , Bonnie Cordcll, who decades ago saw the Animas River ' sweep over the bridge at MaiDe Avenue and 15th Street in,Du- rango, agreed. "Rivers and creeks just don't follow new channels: The new channel wasn't deep enough," Cordell said. "It (the redesigned riparian area) was prettY, but: pretty doesn't get it." Francis disputed ~e allega- tions. "The chaDlld absolutely wa:; dug deep enough," said Francis, the project restoration biologist. "It was designed to overbank every couple of years. That was normal and expecred. " Overflow would go into the old channel and onto the sur- round.i:og flood plain to the de- gree that the flow in the channel exceeded 180 cubic feet a sel;- ond, Francis said. But native grass and vegeta- tion, including 8,000 trees and shrubs planted in the flood plain to stabilize the landscape, didn't have a chance to take 66L-~ eOO/EOO'd 60L-l YODIT GlDf.Y/HeIlIId A front-end loader spreads topson as part of a project to creatB wetlands along two miles of the La Plata River soudl of Redmesa on Dec. 8, 2004. lbe straight line of snow and brush at the right shows the old stream channelt which was reconfiglnd to an 5-shaped channel to lessen Ute impact of water downstream. hold, FxanOs said. Channel designers knew what it would take to contain a five-year flow, Francis said, but they didn't know when such a flow would come along. . "The flows were more than we expected." Francis said. -"We're going to have to patch a: couple of structl1res. Repair !;QuId be 1TIinimal or it could be substantial if there is significant, (additional) runoff." The ripariaD area was part of an effort by the Bureau of Reclamation to replace wildlife habitat and wetlands lost witb thE: cOllStl'Uaion of the ADimas- La Plata PIojed: 25 miles away. Six thousand acres purchased along the La Plata River that in- cludes wetlands, dry canyons and upland$ will replace 2,900 acres of. elk habitat that will be u.nder water or suffer other im- pacts from A-Lf? after 2010. The 6,000 aaes of the Hunt- ingron Ranch purchased for restoIation rost: $6 million. The river resroralion, weed control, fencing and general improve- xnenrs cost 51.2 million. Reach Staff Wrieer Dale Rodehaugh t1l daleT@durangohera1d.com. -WOJ~ o l= e I 90-8Z-JdV