'Super excited with how things worked': East Fork Lewis River floodplain restoration project sees success as work continues

BATTLE GROUND - Light rain and thick mud Monday made their work a little more difficult, but it couldn't stop staff and volunteers from the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership who were removing aquatic wildlife from a section of the East Fork Lewis River and former gravel mine pits.

The work is part of a $15 million floodplain and habitat restoration project aimed at reducing risks of downstream flooding, preventing erosion and providing critical wildlife habitat. The second year of construction, which began this spring, will build on the success of work done last year, said Kari Dupler, principal restoration ecologist for Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.

To save the bony fish, lamprey and mussels from dying during construction, the water level is first lowered so staff can collect the various species and release them back into the river.

The restoration project covers a 3-mile stretch of the river - about 4 miles upstream from La Center - impacted by past gravel mining operations and new development. Much of the funding for the project comes from the state Department of Ecology's Floodplains by Design program, as well as the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other sources.

Maps from the mid-1800s show this area of the river once included numerous channels off the main stem of the East Fork Lewis River winding through low-lying wetlands. By the 1960s, the river had been constrained to a single channel to allow gravel mining operations with nine now-abandoned pit mines added to the area. To restore the river habitat, berms and levees used to constrain the river have been removed, new channels were created and about 300 acres of floodplain were graded.

"This project was designed to flood. It is designed for floodwaters to come up over the floodplain, and that's what we saw," Dupler said.

Crews are primarily working along the east bank of the river. Last year's work was along the west bank. Dupler said the river saw several high-water events over the winter. Although staff were initially concerned with how well the native plants, shrubs and trees planted over the fall would survive inundation, Dupler said the plants are thriving and the project is a success.

"We have walked the west floodplain area, and it looks amazing. Our structures held in place, and they are functioning just like we would expect," Dupler said.

Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, communications manager for the partnership, said the goal is to return the river, as much as possible, to how it looked predevelopment. That means a "very braided, very broad" river that is not a single confined channel.

Constraining the river into a single channel caused significant areas of erosion along the riverbanks, Zimmer-Stucky said, especially along the south bank.

"Instead, all that energy is diverted. We can absorb it here so it's not just scouring into the bank," Zimmer-Stucky said.

Filling in the abandoned pit mines remains a top priority for the partnership. Several were filled in last year, with others on track to be filled in this year.

Severe flooding that occurred in 1995 and 1996 damaged nearby levees and allowed the river to flow directly into the pits. This created warm-water zones that blocked migrating salmon from the upper watershed, allowed predatory fish to breed, and increased flood and erosion risks for nearby homes. The crews are using material taken from the levees, berms and channels to fill in the pits, a decision the partnership said makes the most financial and environmental sense.

Dozens of wood structures - large woody debris and habitat piles - that mimic the naturally occurring old-growth log jams are being added to the river to help disperse water, reduce the energy of the river, and provide places for juvenile salmon and other fish to hide from predators. While most of the structures will go in the water, Dupler said some will be placed on the floodplain to slow water down during high-water events.

"We didn't design this to be a static system. Things are going to move around and change a little bit, but it looks really great. We're super excited with how things worked," Dupler said.

Construction is expected to take two years, with in-water work done between April 15 and Oct. 15 each year.

Beginning Aug. 3, the downstream portion of Daybreak Regional Park west of Northeast Daybreak Road will be closed to the public and remain closed for approximately three months for restoration work. The work includes relocating a portion of the trail and a utility pole away from the river to reduce the risk of erosion, grading the floodplain along the riverbank to increase flood storage and create additional floodplain habitat, installing wood structures in the water and along the bank, and planting native trees and shrubs.

The closure is separate from Clark County's repairs to the boat launch related to damage from flooding in December. The boat launch will remain closed after the park reopens in the fall.

This story was made possible by Community Funded Journalism, a project from The Columbian and the Local Media Foundation. Top donors include the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Patricia, David and Jacob Nierenberg, Connie and Lee Kearney, Steve and Jan Oliva, The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation and the Mason E. Nolan Charitable Fund. The Columbian controls all content. For more information, visit columbian.com/cfj.

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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 7:14 AM.