By Bryan Englebert
Assistant Aquatics Manager
As a biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, I wear many hats. Yes, part of my job is to be a resource custodian for fish and aquatic habitats. But I also have an interest in serving the public – our anglers and all Utahns. Anytime I can do something that benefits both? You have my attention.
The Challenge
A couple of years ago, we were approached by a landowner on the upper Duchesne River, a water designated as a Blue Ribbon fishery. He was struggling with the river threatening and consuming his farm field and irrigation diversion structure. Additionally, he was concerned with flooding impacts to some of his home and ranch infrastructure.
Upper Duchesne River before the habitat restoration project.
The project immediately appealed to us. The upper Duchesne River has been the victim of a number of projects over the past couple of decades that deteriorated river health, function and aesthetics. Some of these projects succeeded with their primary objective, but often came with consequences negatively impacting natural river function and habitat, or worse yet, their neighbors' land! (That's like throwing your dog poop over the fence, if you know what I mean.) Other projects were well-intentioned failures of design, or the river doing something unanticipated.
Our staff go through years of training and experience to learn how to undertake stream improvement projects, and how to implement them with all of these considerations in mind. Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative is a partnership-driven effort to conserve, restore and manage ecosystems in priority areas across the state. The WRI focuses on enhancing Utah's water quality and yield — as well as its biological diversity — so this project aligned well with several goals.
We were excited to work with this landowner to figure out a long-term solution.
Typical flood pattern of the Upper Duchesne River before the habitat restoration project.
The Project
The location for this project was prime. From a biologist's perspective, the habitat was a mess – a super wide, shallow, uniform channel. The location was easy to access and publicly accessible for fishing. And you couldn't ask for a friendlier partner to work with than this landowner. We also wanted to demonstrate that this kind of project could be a blueprint for what a successful project looks like on the upper Duchesne River. Lastly, the project was just the right size: Large enough to be meaningful; small enough that we could complete it with DWR staff power and funding from the Blue Ribbon Fisheries program and Utah Habitat Council.
We believed that we could create a project that would shift the balance to a win-win situation. Supporting landowner and infrastructure benefits, while also creating better fish habitat and river health.
For this project, our methods included several instream structures with the goal of funneling water velocity and energy where we wanted it. Before, water energy was directed laterally, meaning that water sought an opportunity to get out of the channel. The project directed the water inward to maintain pool habitat, which is the ultimate water energy sponge. We were also able to accomplish several improvements:
- We constructed one of the rock structures so that the landowner's irrigation diversion had the appropriate water level to fulfill his water right when and how he needed it.
- We placed "pocket rocks" to help break up water velocity and add fish holding cover.
- We rebuilt the eroding river bank with a much more erosion-resistant woody structure that reflected water energy down below it. Compared to a more typical riprap rock (or concrete) bank that simply reflects water energy, this structure dissipates it.
- After we finished construction, we replanted impacted river banks with native vegetation like cottonwood, willows and woody plants. Rooted vegetation is nature's natural armor to hold a river bank together, with the added bonus of preventing dislodged property impacts to downstream neighbors.
The Results
We were so glad to construct a project that created win-win solutions to our partnering landowner. We were able to accomplish this entire project without costing him anything out of pocket beyond some raw materials he had on his property – some cottonwood trees, some topsoil and a few rocks. His property benefits by dissipating water energy back into the river, creating structures that protect his farm field, and protecting and enhancing his irrigation diversion.
Upper Duchesne River Before
After
This project also benefits neighboring landowners by dissipating water velocity and energy. That benefit has many positive effects that range from decreasing the amount of sediment, rocks or even uprooted trees that would come downstream and cause problems such as additional erosion, deposition or channel migration.
The riverine environment benefits by creating a deeper, more diverse habitat that provides cover for fish and other aquatic organisms. Plus the end result was much prettier and more natural looking than concrete or riprap!
If you have a problem or have an idea for a project like this, please reach out. We value you and the places where the critters live, and are looking for more opportunities to partner with private landowners.
Learn more
- New to fishing? Fishing for beginners: how to get started
- Check out the Fish Utah interactive map to find a place to fish near you!
- DWR WILD podcast, episode 10: Blue Ribbon Fisheries
- Blue Ribbon Fisheries program
- Utah's Habitat Council
- DWR WILD podcast, episode 36: Watershed Restoration Initiative