Laserfiche WebLink
the plan is identified as "Improve Water Quality". This implementation project meets objectives <br />1 (encourage development of riparian buffers), 4 (reduce selenium), and 5 (reduce sediment). <br />The Association's Board of Directors has identified the proposed project in the Action Plan as a <br />priority for restoration. <br />A report entitled Preliminary Assessment of the Morphological Characteristics of the North Fork <br />of the Gunnison River concludes that streambank de-stabilization is the primary cause for water <br />quality degradation throughout North Fork of the Gunnson River segment 3. The North Fork of <br />the Guiulison is listed as a priority watershed that addresses Sec 303(4) listed waters and has a <br />watershed plan in place ready for implementation funding. <br />The Association's streambank monitoring program has established permanent cross sections in <br />2002 within segment 3 and has measured substantial bank loss in excess of 10 feet in just one <br />runoff event. A Colorado Division of Wildlife report indicates excessive sedimentation as the <br />primary limiting factor contributing to poor fisheries value. The agency regards the restoration of <br />this river as a high priority. A NRCS report on the riparian inventory of the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River categorized the floodplain in segment 3 as early seral and associated with <br />streambank de-stabilization. These and other studies show that degraded water quality along the <br />North Fork of the Gunnison River is primarily caused by excessive streambai~lc erosion. This is a <br />widespread problem throughout segment 3 of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. <br />Goals. The environmental goal of this project is to reduce sediment, selenium and nutrients into <br />the North Fork of the Gunnson River by stabilizing streambai~lcs and establishing well vegetated <br />riparian buffers. Decades of channelization in the river caused severe destabilization of the <br />streambai~lcs and contributed to an increase in sediment and pollutants into the river. As a result, <br />the river channel became wide and braided which exacerbated the water quality problem by <br />increasing temperature and reducing surface flow. <br />In 2002, landowners along the river, backed the Association, completed Phase 1 of a project to <br />consolidate stream flows into a single thread meandering channel. That eliminated much of the <br />need for landowners to continue bulldozing the channel, but Phase 2 needs to be completed to <br />stabilize excessive bail{ erosion. Temporary measures such as strategically-placed rock vanes <br />were installed in Phase 1 until additional funding could be raised, but bank erosion and <br />floodplain revegetation still continues to be the primary concern. <br />The Midway Project began in 2002 as a four-mile stream restoration project to protect <br />agricultural land and reduce erosion, thereby improving water quality. The Midway Project was <br />designed to reestablish asingle-thread, meandering channel which had been destroyed by years <br />of bulldozing the river. This bulldozing resulted in unstable, braided chamiels that destroyed <br />riparian vegetation and made irrigation diversion very difficult. Phase I of the project <br />successfully established the realignment of the river. Phase II is primarily the adaptive <br />management component to identify and stabilize problem areas following Phase L The overall <br />concept of Phase II is to monitor, identify and stabilize problems areas along the project to <br />maintain sustainability over the long term. In order to maximize limited resources NFRIA <br />prioritizes problem areas and concentrates on those. All active river channels are dynamic <br />systems that simply cannot be abandoned following restoration activities. Although the overall <br />