Buffalo-Red River Watershed District Stream Habitat Program ?Phase 3"

Throughout the last century, channel straightening efforts and poor field practices have significantly reduced the habitat quality within BRRWD. Channel straightening efforts have eliminated hundreds of acres of quality stream habitat. Straightened channels create homogenous habitats that no longer have the shallow riffles and deeper pools that are required by fish at various stages in their life cycle. Straightened reaches also tend to lose access to their floodplains which increases erosion in the channel and causes downstream flooding. In addition, aggradation of the downstream channel, due to increased sediment loading, reduces habitat quality and makes flooding worse. Over the last several years, BRRWD, with input and in partnership with landowners, federal, state, and local agencies, designed comprehensive subwatershed restoration plans and intends to implement these plans over the next several years. A component of these plans includes the restoration of numerous reaches of straightened and abandoned creek and river channels throughout the Watershed District. Prioritization of projects is largely based on ecological benefits, being shovel-ready and having landowner and other stakeholder support. In these multi-phase projects, the BRRWD anticipates to restore 4 miles of the South Branch Buffalo River within 225-acres of riparian habitat corridor. An estimated 448 acres of conservation easement acquisition is included for this phase of restoration and future restorations. Depending on other outside funding, the funding through this appropriation may be used on other targeted reaches. Acquiring land often creates time constraints and delays project progress. To ensure timely progress on future project phases, 223 acres of easement acquisition for future phases are considered in this proposal. River restorations using natural channel design principles have been designed with input from the MN DNR River Ecology Unit as well as the MN BWSR. A sinuous riffle-pool natural channel design is proposed to recreate the aquatic habitat diversity that was lost in the straightened channel. Naturally stable restored channels will not only recreate lost habitat but will reduce the current erosion that is overloading downstream reaches of the South Branch Buffalo River. The easement acquisition part of this project is proposed to be completed using the Reinvest in Minnesota project implemented by MN BWSR. As part of their comprehensive subwatershed planning process, BRRWD has completed planning and design on four additional stream reaches which are included as part of this application package. These include the restoration of Stony Creek (5.1 miles), Whiskey Creek (1.2 miles), Whisky Creek (14.5 miles) and its south tributary (1.18 miles), and the Upper Buffalo River (16 miles) and their associated riparian corridors. Additional stream restoration enhancement along Stony Creek, Whisky Creek, Whiskey Creek, and the Upper Buffalo River will be completed as funding permits when and if additional sources of match funding become available. Combined, these comprehensive projects have the potential to restore and enhance more than 40 miles of natural prairie stream. Ultimately, over 1,750 acres of stream, river, floodplain, wetland, and grassland habitat along these restoration reaches will be protected and restored.