From meadow back to wetland: pilot project begins

A large meadow out near Dillon Falls south of Bend will once again return to its historic wetland state, as a construction crew began installing underground culverts into the Deschutes River on Wednesday.

The pilot project to flood the meadow is spearheaded by the Deschutes National Forest.

It has been planning the project for five years in an effort to restore a century of damage that ranchers created by building a berm on the river in the 1900s.

Over the next several months, officials will control the flooding and study its effects on the habitat.

Forest soil scientist Peter Sussman hopes by putting the wetland back in place, more species will thrive.

“It is exciting, the 65-70 acres out here have so much potential,” Sussman said. “Migratory birds, waterfowl, aquatic species can take advantage of that, including the Oregon spotted frog, which is a threatened species.”

The construction is slated to close down a popular hiking and biking trail for the rest of the week, but beyond that, the project isn’t expected to hinder recreation.

“We’re excited the recreational experience can pretty much be the same, in terms of access,” Sussman said.

However, if the Forest Service finds the pilot program successful and decides to make the wetland permanent, Sussman said the trail would be changed slightly.

“The river trail will still run through (the) area, but it will be located about 20 feet farther from the river, to allow us to restore the river bank,” Sussman said.

Whether or not the project is continued into a next phase will largely depend on local irrigation districts, which in the past have been opposed to the project, for fear of losing water out of the river.

Sussman said he believes no water will be lost, and the wetland could actually add more water back into the river.

“It’s an exchange of water,” Sussman said. “So (the wetland) can store water during the summer and as the river goes down, when irrigation season ends, there would be a return of water back to the river.”

NewsChannel 21 reached out to several irrigation districts for comment but did not hear back before news time.

The project to install the culverts costs about $10,000. The construction finishes up on Friday, and then the Forest Service will flood and monitor the meadow until either the fall of 2015 or 2016.