Beaver Dam

Side Channel Opening & Riparian Restoration Lat-long: 45.391, -122.4769

Expected Outcomes

The Clackamas River Basin Council is working with several private landowners to increase the hydrologic connection of a remnant side channel and off-channel habitats in the mainstem Clackamas River upstream of Carver, OR. Design will focus on improving juvenile rearing conditions for spring Chinook and Coho Salmon, winter steelhead and Pacific lamprey. Large wood will be used to increase habitat quality, maintain planform, add hydraulic roughness, increase channel complexity and increase floodplain connectivity at the site. The entire 6-acre riparian area will be treated for invasive plants, replanted, and the vegetation managed for 3 years following replanting.

Target Completion – September 2024

The project was highly ranked by the Clackamas Partnership during the last work plan development and will help to address the delisting goals of the Lower Columbia River Conservation and Recovery Plan. With relatively little excavation the project improves habitat along 2,625 ft of side channel across a broad, well-vegetated floodplain, benefitting native fish species that historically utilized this reach of the Clackamas river.