Landslide Restoration in
Domestic Watershed, Adjacent to Fish Bearing Stream
HEART CREEK PROJECT
Location: Fauquier, British Columbia
Client: Pope & Talbot Ltd. Nakusp Division
Objective: To address slope stability, control
seepage on the slide face and reduce
surface erosion and sediment input to Heart Creek. To
restore riparian zone cover and function in order to
improve local fish habitat conditions.
Heart Creek is a domestic watershed for the
town of Fauquier B.C., located in Southeast British
Columbia. Heart Creek also provides habitat to four
valued species of fish: kokanee, rainbow trout, longnose
dace and bull trout. Heart Creek flows into the Upper
Arrow Lake west of Fauquier. The valley walls in this
location show evidence of what appears to be forestry
related instability due to problems with road drainage
structures. The failures were caused by diverted water
on the old forestry road system during the spring of
1994. The slide travelled all the way down to Heart
Creek, a distance of about 160m.
Pope & Talbot Ltd. retained Terra Erosion Control
Ltd. in June 1999 to develop a prescription for soil
bioengineering treatment of the sites. The project was
implemented in the fall of 2000 and completed in the
spring of 2001. A combination of the following species
were used to build the structures: Salix scouleriana,
Populus balsamifera ssp. Trichocarpa and Cornus sericea.
The following structures types were installed: live
pole drain, fascines, brush layers, live check dams
and live sediment traps. Planting of native seedlings
and broadcast seeding was also applied to the site.
The site was then monitored during the summer and fall
of 2001. First year growth was pruned, leaving 6 to
8 buds per stem, to help balance root and stem growth
in the late fall of 2001. In July 2003, the site was
revisited and the results found were excellent. The
site showed fully functioning structures; live pole
drain systems were working well, and live sediment traps
and check dams were effective in accumulating sediment
and reducing water velocity.
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sites layout map
Site preparation scaling, Fall 2001
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Construction
of live sediment trap
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Construction
of live check dam
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Mycorrhiza fungus
inoculation on contour
fascines/brush layer structure
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Inoculated contour fascines/brush layer structure
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Site lower section,
summer 2001
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Growth on brush
layer / contour fascines, fall 2001
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Site upper section,
summer 2001
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Growth on live
pole drain system, summer 2001
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Brush layers/contour
fascines, summer 2003
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Brush layers/contour
fascines, below head scarp summer 2003
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Upper site looking
down, summer 2003
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Live pole drain,
summer 2003
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Live check dam,
summer 2003
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Lower site, summer
2003
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Live
sediment trap, summer 2003
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