Benewah Creek 'ełtumish Project - Stream/Wetland Restoration
Status: In Progress
Location:
Benewah Creek is a tributary to Coeur d’Alene Lake located within the Coeur d’Alene Reservation in Benewah County. The proposed restoration sites are located in the upper and middle reaches of the Benewah watershed (T45N, R4W, and S13 & S26).
Background:
The 39,000 acre watershed supports both resident and adfluvial forms of westslope cutthroat trout. Watershed health has been influenced by intensive forestry practices and changes in land use over the last century. These impacts have resulted in impaired stream habitats, wetlands and fisheries resources due to riparian vegetation removal, channel incision, increases in fine sediment, elevated main stem stream temperatures, loss of habitat diversity, lack of in-stream large woody debris and reduced access for fish to high quality habitats for spawning and early life stage rearing. This project will, (1) restore capacity of wetlands to mitigate drought, (2) enhance fish refugia, (3) provide habitat for culturally important wetland plant and wildlife species, and (4) enhance lost cultural services. The proposal includes meaningful engagement of Tribal youth interns to conduct monitoring to quantify ecosystem services provisioned by constructed/restored wetlands.
Restoration Completed:
Funding was awarded in January 2024, project planning is underway.
Benefits:
These projects, by reestablishing the connection to broad floodplains, will offer refugia for fish and wildlife across a wide range of flood events, a higher water table, and significant hyporheic connectivity. The prominence of floodplain attributes and processes at restored sites may help buffer channel networks from disturbance and instill greater resilience to flood and drought that will translate to improved survival and growth of fisheries resources that were injured by the release of hazardous substances in the Basin.
Contact:
Angelo Vitale
Coeur d’Alene Tribe
401 Anne Antelope Rd.
Plummer, ID 53853
p: 208.686-6903
ajvitale@cdatribe-nsn.gov
Sponsor:
Partners:
