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Wanting to give visitors a reason to stay awhile in Crescent City, Councilors and staff are looking at habitat restoration in the Elk Creek Watershed.

City staff partnered with the Smith River Alliance to conduct an urban stream feasibility study on the 8.26 square mile watershed starting in 2019. Now, staff is looking to the City Council to “shape the ultimate goals and development” for the project, City Manager Eric Wier said Monday.

Wier said he brought the feasibility study to the attention of Rob Holmlund, owner of Malex Consulting, who has worked with the city to develop its economic strategic action plan. Wier spoke of areas in Elk Creek that could be developed for tourists.

“People, when they come to Crescent City, a lot of times it’s about those natural resources, and we have an under utilized natural resource right in our backyard,” he said. “Maybe being able to develop nature trails or just that experiential type of component and amenity that is right here, where you can go from Beachfront Park and in a short walk you could be in the middle of this Elk Creek watershed where you could really see how it all flows together and combines together.”

Paid for by Coastal Conservancy, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and 2016 Proposition 1 Water Bond dollars, the feasibility study was put together by the Smith River Alliance and its consultant, Stillwater Sciences, according to Smith River Alliance Executive Director Grant Werschkull.

Its goal was to enhance the natural buffers protecting Crescent City from flooding, tsunamis and climate change as well as to protect fish habitat, Werschkull said. The study also explores barriers to addressing legacy contamination sites in the watershed as well as to identify brownfield remediation and opportunities for water quality improvement.

The watershed includes areas along Elk Valley Road, around Walmart and near the Crescent City Cemetery.

“Many communities around California refer to the fact they have urban streams,” Werschkull said. “What makes this particular stream so special is you actually have some attributes other urban areas really long for, and that would be you have a salmon and steelhead population existing. That is something those funding sources look very favorably on, and that can be a great help in seeking additional funding.”

The study of the existing conditions included mapping the vegetation communities and the assemblage of waterways in the Elk Valley Watershed, Smith River Alliance Program Coordinator Monica Scholey told Councilors. This includes studying how the water flows and where it flows, she said, as well as fish passage and the ability for current infrastructure to withstand flooding.

One particular area, on Elk Valley Road, was identified as spawning habitat for fish, Scholey said. The Smith River Alliance identified a funding source and are partnering with Del Norte County to replace culverts in the area, she said.

There are three areas where Elk Valley Road crosses a tributary in the watershed, each able to withstand a two -year storm, Scholey said.

“In a really large storm event or even a 10-year storm event, you would get minor flooding,” she said. “In a larger flow event, you could potentially have public infrastructure and major access route to and out of Crescent City damaged by a large flood.”

The study also takes into account tsunami inundation, particularly the watershed’s ability to act as a buffer, Scholey said. She showed a model of how a Cascadia subduction zone event could impact the area, but noted that Crescent City has a history of distant-source tsunamis.

Scholey also mentioned a historic water and contamination site at the old McNamara & Peepe Lumber Mill behind Safeway.

“There’s a large pond that is held in by a dam wall and in the large tsunami event there’s the potential for failure as well as spreading that contamination into Crescent City as well as into the habitat,” she said. “Looking at how could we clean that up both benefits the city because this is potentially usable area, as well as benefit the watershed from the cleanup of that legacy contamination site.”

Scholey also mentioned a trail on land owned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife within Crescent City that leads to an oxbow pond. She showed a photo of boaters in the pond.

“It’s really beautiful and it’s right next to downtown,” she said. “We view it as a potentially under utilized asset.”

Councilors were excited about habitat restoration in the Elk Creek watershed and the possibility of tying it to economic development and tourism. Councilor Beau Smith pointed out that many of the ponds in the area were logging ponds for the McNamara and Peepe lumber mill and said he has fond memories of fishing in the creek.

“I actually grew up on Maiden Lane when I was a kid,” he said. “The first time I ran away from home was back in there. There’s a lot of history there and I was glad to see what you guys have done with that.”

Mayor Pro Tem Blake Inscore said he was pleased the study balanced restoration with eco-tourism. He pointed out that though Crescent City is in the heart of the redwoods, it’s not a destination city. Visitors will take a quick detour to view Battery Point Lighthouse, but they don’t usually stay, Inscore said.

Inscore said he’d like to see a project creating a network of trails on city-owned property near the Crescent City cemetery.

“I know maybe I sound crazy, but I just believe there’s going to be a day where that is a destination place right in the city limits,” he said. “We own the whole property. All we gotta do is figure out a parking arrangement. We create a boardwalk, keep it up, keep the habitat safe and do restoration work and people have the opportunity to take a one-mile walk down, through and back.”
 

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