Drainage, habitat project nominations sought for unincorporated King County improvement programs

King County's Small Capital Improvement Project (CIP) programs are soliciting projects for the 2006 construction and planting season.

The Small CIP programs include Small Habitat Restoration and Drainage and Habitat Improvement programs. Both programs are administered by the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks and provide funding to design, permit and construct small habitat restoration and drainage projects in and around streams and wetlands throughout unincorporated King County.

Limited funding is available for construction of these small projects on either private or public land.
The Small Habitat Restoration Program (SHRP) has funded 297 projects since 1995. In 2003, the program had 29 urban projects and 23 rural projects, improving a total of 6.3 miles of stream, 38.6 acres of wetlands and 135 acres of stream/wetland buffer areas.

Past projects have been proposed by creek neighbors, King County staff members, private landowners, community groups and environmental organizations. Project applications are always accepted. Project applications must be submitted by Feb. 6 for consideration and ranking for the 2006 construction season.
Applications will be screened and prioritized for implementation. Projects are selected based upon the benefit that they will provide to the environment, and the cost-efficiency with which they can be implemented. Some projects nominated this year may be implemented in future years depending on their priority and available funding.

Recent projects funded through these programs include:

• Montz Bank Stabilization and Habitat Enhancement (private property):
  SHRP staff designed and constructed 125 lineal feet of biotechnical slope stabilization on Lewis Creek. The property owner contacted SHRP after a contractor he hired failed to get permits for a conventional approach to stabilizing a rapidly eroding bank using rock. The project included the placement of in-stream large woody debris and native plantings on 5,000 square feet of riparian buffer to improve aquatic and terrestrial wildlife habitat.
  
• O. O. Denny Creek Delta Enhancement (public ownership):
  Working with the Denny Creek neighborhood and the Finn Hill Park and Recreation District, SHRP protected and enhanced a 3,000-square-foot riparian buffer at the mouth of Denny Creek. Problems included plant destruction and streambank erosion caused by park users and dogs, and encroachment of invasive species such as yellow iris and reed canarygrass. These problems were addressed by installing a fence across the stream that included a specially designed flapper gate, removing invasive species and installing native plantings. A drip irrigation system, funded by the Seattle Parks District, was designed and installed by SHRP.
  
• Andrew/Foster Wetland Restoration Project (private ownership):
  SHRP removed two 30-foot-long culverts and the former road bed from the outlet of Snoqualmie Wetland No. 66. The new channel was contoured to resemble natural conditions. The project will improve fish passage from the Snoqualmie River into the wetland, which will serve well for rearing and refuge. Native plants will be planted on the channel banks in the winter of 2006.

To nominate a project, fill out the online application form at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/cposa/shrp/suggest.htm.

For more information on King County's Small Habitat Restoration Program, contact Mason Bowles at 206-296-8736. For more information on Drainage and Habitat Improvement Program, contact Brian Landau at 206-296-8370.