Sturgeon Lake/Dairy Creek Restoration

Sturgeon Lake is the largest body of water on Sauvie Island and serves as an important rearing area for juvenile salmonids and migratory waterfowl. Due to collapsed culverts and sedimentation in Dairy Creek, prior to 2018 the Lake had only one ingress/egress point (Gilbert River). The Sturgeon Lake Restoration project reconnected a second channel to this extensive 4,100 acre lake and wetland complex by removing failing culverts and creating a permanent tidal channel between the Columbia River and the lake.

In the summer of 2018, CREST and project partners replaced collapsed culverts in Dairy Creek with a channel-spanning 96 foot long roadway bridge. A new low-flow tidal channel was excavated to provide year-round hydraulic flows and fish access and two full time tidal openings. The project created ½ mile of new tidal channel, removed 22,000 cubic yards of material from the slough, replaced two failing culverts with a channel-spanning 96 foot long bridge, replanted over 15,000 trees and shrubs, and installed several in-stream habitat features.

Project partners:
Bonneville Power Administration
Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife
US Army Corps of Engineers
West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District

Related services:
Restoration Planning & Implementation