HABITAT RESTORATION

Habitat Restoration of the Ottawa River at the ,

Reach 5 post construction view of hydraulic cover stones and bendway wier with locked log.

ith the establishment of the main 3,700 feet in length. Over the last sev- banks. For many, the river has been seen campus of the University of To- enty years, the Ottawa River has received and described as a “dirty ugly ditch”. In Wledo along Bancroft Road in Tole- little attention in regards to campus plan- addition, following major flooding in the do, Ohio in 1931 was the added feature of ning, which is evidenced by the location of 1940s and 1950s, much of the river was the presence of a major river approximately buildings and parking lots up against the dredged, straightened and leveed in order

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on the UT Scott Park campus, with the design and planning for aquatic habitat restoration within 900 feet of the river ad- jacent to Savage Arena. The project aim was to engage the high school students with involvement in the development of the project and provide them a forum to meet and learn about college degree op- tions in environmental science. There was also opportunity for the students to inter- act with professionals working in the field from federal and state agencies, non-gov- ernment organizations, and consultants. With additional planning support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) - Buffalo District, an initial site plan for the placement of several in-stream aquatic hab- itat structures was completed for the pro- posed project area in 2011 with plans to proceed to construction that summer. The in-stream habitat structures would be made from natural materials (wood and stone) and consist of bendway weirs, locked logs Construction of longitudial toe protection structure. and hydraulic cover stones – all of which provide shelter and protection for aquatic species out of the main flow of the channel to protect from future hazards. As a cam- proposal to undertake natural restoration and would also allow for establishment of pus and community we have turned our improvements for both bank and aquatic aquatic plants as food sources. backs to the river, ignoring its unique and habitat along the river. Stream habitat as- However, following a public meet- important ecological functions and un- sessments by the Ohio Environmental Pro- ing on the proposed restoration project, tapped potential to enhance the University tection Agency (OEPA) and other studies interest was expressed by several groups to landscape. indicated that the section of the river on encourage expanding the restoration con- Since 2005, faculty, staff, students, main campus failed to meet state attain- cepts to include the entire 3,700 feet of alumni, and community members have ment standards for aquatic habitat condi- the Ottawa River on main campus. With been working to address a wide range of tions. In addition, following major proj- securing of additional project grants from issues and challenges associated with the ects to address contaminated sediments Ohio EPA ($235,000) and U.S. Fish and 3,700 feet of the Ottawa River that passes and combined sewer overflows in down- Wildlife Service ($161,000), the Commis- through the main campus of the Univer- stream sections of the Ottawa River in the sion and project team proceeded to have sity of Toledo. Established by then Presi- City of Toledo, efforts were underway at the ACOE extend their design work for the dent Dan Johnson, the President’s Com- various locations to address natural habi- other river sections on main campus. Final mission on the River has spent that last tat and population for wildlife, fish and design work was completed by fall of 2011, nine years focusing on efforts in the areas aquatic species in the river. These initia- and the first stage of construction was com- of beautification, storm water improve- tives included dam removals, wetland res- pleted in July 2012 with the completion of ments, natural areas and environmental toration, stream improvements and ripar- a cutbank structure along 900 feet of the improvements, overlooks and pathways, ian plantings and removal of non-native river bank adjacent to the UT Law School. student involvement, education and public invasive plants in areas upstream from the The cutbank was deemed a necessary step awareness, community outreach and en- campus. The University of Toledo decided due to the requirement to increase river wa- gagement. Funded by grants and donors, to work on similar improvements for the ter storage on campus following a potential the Commission has raised over $600,000 river on campus and as an effort to engage one hundred year flood event. The build- to support projects and activities aimed at with community activities and partners. ing of the cutbank also provided an op- improving the river. Several notable ac- portunity to remove over 4,000 square feet complishments have been achieved by the Funding of construction debris placed there in the Commission in association with UT Facili- An education grant of $90,000 from 1950s. Once completed, the site was re- ties and Grounds and other university and the Stranahan Foundation provided an op- planted with over 300 native plants. There community partners. portunity to engage science teachers and are also future plans that will improve pub- Starting in 2009, the Commission un- students from the Toledo Public School lic access to the river with a walking path dertook the largest project to date with a (TPS) Early College High School, located and benches at the site.

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Design With the construction of the cutbank complete, planning for the in-stream habi- tat restoration proceeded in the fall of 2012 with final design and public meetings. The final design called for the installation of twelve in-stream restoration structures and sixty hydraulic cover stones along 2,800 linear feet of river. The structures included: six locked logs; two sets of LUNKERS (to- tal length 88ft); one section of Longitudi- nal Peaked Toe Protection (200 linear feet) with five single stone bendway weirs with a stone smile structure, and three bendway weirs with locked logs. Stone would come from local quarries and the locked logs built from hardwood trees donated from a local landowner and from site. The in- stream structures would be anchored into the bank, protected with rock stone keys at each end that extended several feet deep and up to fifteen feet with the bank and where filled with stone, choked with soil and planted with live stakes of willows and Cutback feature in Reach 1 in the summer of 2013, one year post construction. other locally harvested plants. The number, location and select of the various types of in-stream restoration structures was deter- mined based on current habitat conditions, not be desirable from the environmental Barbs, they are level crested (flat) along the addressing flow conditions and to provide or energy dissipation points of view. The longitudinal axis. The length depends on a range of different habitat structures so as amounts of stone used (i.e.,1 ton/lineal the amount of river that needs to be con- to be able to assess their relative functions foot, 2 tons/lineal foot) will depend on the trolled and proposed thalweg relocation. and long term successes to improve aquatic depth of scour at the toe, estimated stream The height of a BW is usually one foot habitat conditions. Final concept plans and forces (impinging flow) on the bank and above the base flow water surface elevation design were completed by the USACOE flood durations and stages. A benefit of this (typical lowflow or 80 percent exceedence). and provided to the project team in De- type of protection is its ability to resist the The crest of the weir needs to be lower than cember 2013 along with detailed cost es- erosive flow of the stream and stabilize the any flow that can erode the bank. Water timates by river reach and structure type. toe of the slope. It does not directly protect flowing over it is redirected at an angle that mid and upper bank areas. The success of is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the method depends on the ability of the the weir. Because it is angled upstream, this stone to launch into a scour hole and self- pushes the erosive energy (flow) away from adjust, protecting the bank against further the outer bank of the stream. The erosive erosion. Bank grading is not always needed; helical flow, that is created as the stream therefore any established vegetation above travels along the bend, is broken up and the crest of the LPSTP may not need to the stream velocity over the weirs drops by be disturbed. Typically adventitious root- approximately 50 percent. This reduced ing live poles are placed against the stone flow velocity creates a resting area (within- on the bank side, then the area between channel refugia) and increased structural the stone and the native bank material is diversity for fish. One study shows that Restoration Structures backfilled (which plants the live poles) and adding weirs increased species richness A Longitudinal Peaked Stone Toe creates a floodplain bench. The LPSTP and of fishes by 260 percent and individual Protection (LPSTP) is a continuous stone poles (live siltation) will capture alluvium numbers by over 24,000 percent. Because dike placed longitudinally at or slightly and any failed upslope material on the of the slower stream velocities along the streamward of the toe of the eroding bank. bank side creating an area for vegetation outer bank, weirs will allow for deposition It is triangular in cross-section. The LPSTP establishment. and plant colonization to occur along the does not necessarily follow the toe exact- A Bendway Weir (BW) is a stone struc- outer bank of the bend of the river and ly, but can be placed to form a smoothed ture that extend from the bank and angle sometimes in the area of the weirs. Also alignment through the bend. However, in upstream 70 degrees from a line tangent to the deepest section of the river (thalweg) is some cases a smoothed alignment might the bank. As opposed to Rock Vanes/Bank moved from the outside of the bend of the

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stream to a smoothed alignment grounds for juvenile and off the stream end of the weirs. adult fish. The increased Like all redirective methods, it roughness of LL along an will usually reduce, but not elimi- outside bend of a stream nate, bank erosion as the primary creates a chaotic structure function is thalweg management and redirects the thalweg and energy dissipation. closer to the inside of the A Hydraulic Cover Stone bend. In larger streams, (HCS) is a large single stone they assist with ice man- placed singly, or in grouping, in agement. The slower water a flowing channel. The constant created by the hydraulic movement and undulation (rip- roughness allows for a thicker, pling) of the water from the HCS earlier forming ice along the results in a type of cover, hydrau- banks between the LL. When the lic cover, that masks fish location spring ice melt occurs, the thicker from the view of predators. The ice near the bank stays put long stones also provide resting areas enough to help protect plants and and in-channel refugia for fish smaller stone protection from ice during high-energy, highflow shear. events. Three stone placements A LUNKERS (Little Un- create three different hydrologic derwater Neighborhood Keeper scenarios: Encompassing Rheotactic Salmo- • Above Base Flow: Stone crest nids) structure was first developed set slightly above the base flow and used in Wisconsin. It is an water surface, resulting in a V- engineered, undercut-bank struc- shaped wake and flow split with ture designed to provide habitat a double return eddy flow pattern for fishes while providing bank downstream of the stone. How- stability. It is typically 8 feet long, ever, these stones might be used as 1 to 2 feet tall and 3 feet deep, perches for predators to catch fish Installation of live stakes in locked log feature. constructed of hardwood or if nu- and other species. merous wet-dry cycles are antici- • At Base Flow: Top of the stone pated, concrete or plastic-wood. It set at an elevation slightly lower is open to the front and sides of than the typical base flow water woody material and the stream, they can the structure to allow for water to surface elevation. When sited correctly, the be placed singularly or in bundles of sev- flow through. The toe of the outer bank of accelerated flow over the top of the stone eral logs. These structures are secured into the stream is leveled. The structure is placed changes from subcritical to supercritical the bank or locked by placing stone around on the level bed and 0.5 inch x 7 foot long flow and then farther downstream the flow the lower portion of the tree with the upper sections of rebar are driven through pre- returns back to subcritical (usually with a portion pointed downstream at typically a drilled holes and into the stream substrate, weak hydraulic jump). The hydraulic jump 15 to 35 degree angle relative to the bank. anchoring the LUNKERS to the stream entrains air and aerates the stream. Trees that still have attached root wads are bed. The area bankward of the structure • Below Base Flow: Stone crest set just preferred because the roots act as a spread is filled with riprap or covered with large below the base flow water surface elevation anchor in the stone and don’t allow them stones and some soil. Circular coir fiber results in an acceleration of the water mov- to work out from underneath the stone. rolls are positioned on top of it to provide ing over the top of the stone, with standing Care should be taken to make sure to an- substrate for vegetation. Concrete-roofed waves forming downstream of the stone. chor the tree or limb to the bank so that LUNKERS can be used as fishing plat- Standing waves do not propagate in any the woody debris does not break free and forms in handicapped accessible facilities. direction, almost like a set of water hills create more work downstream. Avoid the It is important that it is placed on the out- locked in place. use of mechanical fasteners such as cables. side of the bend of the stream that will re- Locked Logs (LL) consist of entire If the structure fails, cables can cause prob- ceive flow. Otherwise, sediment fills up in trees, generally larger than two inches in di- lems downstream where they can become it, deeming them functionally useless. ameter anchored in or placed under struc- lodged. They provide in-stream cover, ver- tures. Locked limbs are smaller branches tical and horizontal structure, hydraulic Permitting (with or without leaves), tree tops or sec- roughness and faunal refugia. Dead wood Early in 2013 state and federal permits tions of small tree trunks that are less than in a stream is extremely important for mac- were prepared and submitted to the US two inches in diameter. They can be placed roinvertebrates, both as food supply at the Army Corp of Engineers and Ohio EPA to into a stream by hand or with mechani- base of a food web and as a substrate/habi- address issues with stormwater and distri- cal assistance. Depending on size of the tat. These logs provide cover and feeding bution of stream conditions, with the nec-

42 May/June 2014 HABITAT RESTORATION essary permits secured in May. lip Poplar, Hornbeam, Nine- Meetings and consultations in bark, Sycamore, Black Cher- advance of the construction were ry, and Sumac. Additional also conducted with the city and planting will be completed in county so they were informed the summer of 2014 due to and aware of the construction, funding remaining from the even though as state lands the NOAA grant to Partners for university site was not subject to Clean Streams. Permanent local planning or regulatory over- information signage will be sight. From May to July, related placed along the river on cam- efforts of habitat restoration were pus to educate the University underway along the river banks. community and visitors about With the assistance of Partners the river and restoration ef- for Cleans Streams - funded by forts. Ongoing assessment and a environmental jobs grant from monitoring of the bank veg- NOAA via the Great Lakes Res- etation and in-stream habitat toration Initiative - eight student restoration structures will be workers spent eight weeks at conducted to determine the UT removing large numbers of impact of the work that has non-native invasive plant species occurred. Dr Hans Gottgens along the river banks, most nota- and graduate students from bly Tree of Heaven, Honeysuck- the UT Department of Envi- le, and Buckthorn, and preparing ronmental Sciences have addi- access points for subsequent in- tional research grant funding stream river habitat restoration to support multi-year pre and work, with over 2,400 feet of post construction assessment linear river banks cleared of non- of the in-stream structures for native plants. fish habitat and populations. In May 2013, the University OEPA is scheduled to return Above: LUNKERS, post construction. Below: Placement of eight solicited bids from of eight pre- to the site within the next 2-3 foot section of LUNKER in Reach 3. approved contractors based on a years for comprehensive habi- vendor list provided by two local tat evaluations to determine organizations that had recently Monitoring if the river aquatic ecosystem completed similar habitat restoration proj- Following the in-stream construc- has improved based on state assessment ects. Based on the review and evaluation tion over seven hundred native plants standards. of submitted bids, including detailed cost were placed along the riverbank and in estimates provided by the contractors, Eco- the water. Species included Water willows, Lessons Learned logical Restoration Inc. was selected. The Burt Oak, Dogwood, Indigo Bush, Black The biggest challenges within this contractor completed a required site visit in Chokeberry, Hazelnut, Black Walnut, Tu- project were to secure the additional fund- June to assess the site, review final design ing to allow for expansion of the restora- plans, and discuss staging, materials and tion to include the entire length of river on local suppliers. In August 2013, Ecologi- main campus and addressing the potential cal Restoration Inc. undertook the place- flood risk increase by the needed additional ment of the in-stream habitat structures step of building the cutbank structure. In in the river using native wood materials addition as the design and planning work and stone, plus an additional sixty single proceeded over a two year period, modifi- stone rocks. The mobilization of materi- cations in the number, location and size of als and equipment took three days, actual the in-stream habitat restoration structures construction was completed over ten days, needed to be made to balance budget limi- with cleanup and demobilization including tations and appropriately manage for the hydroseeding of exposed soil areas under- future flood risk with the additional struc- taken over additional two days. Time lapse tures to be placed in the river channel. Of videos of sample selected in-stream struc- the successes realized with this project were tures can also be found on our Youtube the added benefit of raising understanding channel at “U Toledo Presidents Commis- and awareness of the river and the impor- sion on the River”. During construction tance of aquatic habitat to the university the site was subject to periodic site inspec- and local communities and the ability to tion by OEPA with no major issued cited. engage multiple funding agencies and part-

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ners into the project. make any necessary field adjustments and overlooks will be developed, along with a Additional important considerations modifications due to conditions and best planned river trail system. Due to the many and lessons learned during the project in- practices. Such oversight also assisted un- improvements, there has been an increased cluded the need for continued public en- expected issues that arose during construc- use of the river as an outdoor classroom for gagement and communication which was tion when it was necessary to adjust the size our students, which furthers collaboration achieved by regular meetings, a variety of and type of stone materials and logs to be and public education surrounding the Ot- media and online outlets, and project sig- used to build the in-stream habitat condi- tawa River, such educational experiences nage on site. Use of the university media tions when the original specifications could will increase. Along with our community, office, Commission website and Facebook not be met by the supplier. Coordination collaborators, and University partners we page, and emails to key project partners, and close communication between the all look forward to having our river gain funders and Commission members were project team, field expert and contractor its place as a signature piece of the Univer- critical to the task of keeping everyone in- are essential. sity of Toledo for our current and future formed as the planning and construction students and the community we all share. proceeded. Establishing and maintaining Future Efforts L&W lines of communication with key regula- As the Commission begins to close in tory agencies and other interested parties on a decade of work, the potential opportu- by Dr. Patrick Lawrence was also critical so questions and concerns nities remain exciting with great potential could be dealt with in a quick and efficient for continued improvements to the river on For more information on this project, or manner. our campus. Future efforts will focus on the work of the Commission, readers are re- It is also important to emphasize that addressing the serious challenges associated ferred to our website at http://www.utoledo. planning and design of such habitat res- with the collection of surface storm water edu/commissions/river/ or our Facebook page. toration projects can take time and effort runoff from our buildings and parking lots. You can also contact Dr. Patrick L. Lawrence, to work through concepts and proceed to Currently, the stormwater is discharged di- Chair & Professor, Department of Geography contracting and construction. For example rectly into the Ottawa River. Ongoing and and Planning, College of Languages, Litera- almost three years were required proceeding committed work to stop the continued ap- ture and Social Sciences and Chair, UT Pres- actual construction. Also during construc- pearance and expansion of the non-native ident’s Commission on the River, University tion it was important to have oversight by invasive plants will also continue. In addi- of Toledo, Ohio, Phone: 419-530-4128, Fax: expert(s) on habitat restoration and work tion, improvements to aging bridge struc- 419-530-7919, Email: patrick.lawrence@ with an experienced contractor in order to tures will need be carried out and more utoledo.edu.

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