The Conservation Registry

PROJECT OVERVIEW

November 2011

The East Lents Floodplain Restoration Project is restoring historic floodplain along Johnson Creek. Work began in summer 2011 and the city completed the first construction phase in October 2011.

The project site is south of SE Foster Road from about SE 106th Avenue to SE 110th Drive. Johnson Creek flows through the site and almost all of the project area is within the 100 year floodplain.

The project:

- Adds flood storage
- Reduces the frequency of flooding on Foster Road, area homes and businesses
- Improves habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife
- Recreates stream channels and shade the creek
- Helps meet State of Oregon water quality standards and Endangered Species Act requirements
- Helps revitalize the Lents area

The East Lents project also helps implement the Portland Watershed Management Plan and the Johnson Creek Restoration Plan, which call for improving creek conditions and preventing damage from large flood events, and smaller nuisance floods that occur about every 10 years.

In summer 2011, a city contractor removed more than 50,000 cubic yards of soil (about 5,000 dump truck loads) from lowlands next to Johnson Creek to reconnect the creek to its floodplain. Environmental Services began revegetating the project site in fall 2011 with about 70,000 native trees and shrubs.

The second phase of construction began in the spring of 2012 and was completed in December of 2012. The project reconfigured the banks of Johnson Creek and reconnected the stream to a restored floodplain on a 70-acre site south of Foster Road between 106th and 112th Avenue. Work completed included:

• Removal of three bridges and sections of road SE 106th, 108th, and 110th.
• Construction of a new street -- SE Cooper Street
• Creek bank improvements and stream bed enhancements for fish and water quality
• New flood storage and natural area
• Removal of invasive plants and trees
• Over 90,000 new shrubs and trees planted
• New pedestrian bridge and a new trail from Foster Road to Cooper Street
• A new parking area and gathering place on Foster Road for trail users
• New sidewalks on the south side of SE Foster and on SE 112th.

Ongoing work will include more plantings of native trees and shrubs.

Environmental Services and Portland Parks and Recreation have partnered to maintain the site, which will be called the Foster Floodplain Natural Area.

--City of Portland website: http://www.portlandonline.com/bes/index.cfm?a=286175&c=33213

Primary motivations:

Conservation Mission

Primary goals:

Reduce frequency of flooding in Foster area

Improve habitat for fish and wildlife

Recreate stream channels and shade the creek

Revitalize the Lents area

Consistent with plans:

Watershed Plan

Portland Watershed Plan (BES) Johnson Creek Restoration Plan (JCWC)

Targeted habitats:

• Aquatic
  • Rivers and Streams
• Human Habitats
  • Urban and Residential
    • Urban Habitats (High Intensity Developed)
• Wetlands and Riparian Habitats

Targeted species:

• Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch
• Rainbow Trout or Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss
• Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii

Is the success of this project's actions being monitored?   Yes

Please describe your monitoring activity.

See "2011 East Lents Survey Results" attached under Project Documents

What additional information would you like to share?

Thank you to everyone who commented on the East Lents Pre-Design Report and Technical Memorandum. The public comment period closed on June 23, 2008. Your input will help shape the project's design. The design team will review your comments, conduct their own review of the Pre-Design Report and further assess the project area to determine if, or how, the design might be modified from the pre-design proposals. Once they've completed their review, we will provide a summary of how the comments were addressed in the design process.