Completed in 2007. The Old Soldiers Home Levee Setback Project was developed by Pierce County with funding from a group of Hylebos Waterway PRPs referred to informally as the Mediation Group. The Mediation Group contributed $2.3 million in construction funds under a natural resource damage settlement relating to the Hylebos Waterway. The Salmon Recovery Funding Board also contributed toward the costs of property acquisition and project development. The levee setback project is located on the Puyallup River near the City of Orting and stretches upstream from the Calistoga Bridge.
Restoration Activities
The project consists of a new 5,000-foot levee which has been set back 900 feet from the main channel of the Puyallup River. The existing levee structure was removed to allow the river to naturally meander in the opened floodplain area. The new setback levee transformed 67 acres of dry floodplain into a complex of braided channels to allow the river to meander through it. The area of the setback lets the river migrate more naturally, allowing flood waters to spread out and create off-channel habitat. These areas are used by juvenile salmon as refuge as they migrate toward Puget Sound and by adult salmon when they return to spawn. Areas of habitat channels were also excavated to help induce river flows into the newly-opened floodplain area during lower river flow conditions. Large woody debris was placed along the setback levee alignment for more habitat features.
FUNDING
The Mediation Group contributed $2.3 million in construction funds under a natural resource damage settlement relating to the Hylebos Waterway.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
The levee setback project is located on the Puyallup River near the City of Orting and stretches upstream from the Calistoga Bridge.
