WILLOW CREEK, MONTANA

WILLOW CREEK PRESERVE

Neglected under previous ownership, the property and creek had been solely viewed through the lens of supporting as many cattle as possible, and was even officially classified as a confined animal feeding operation — CAFO. And it showed. The reach of Willow Creek on the property was channelized, with thousands of feet of eroding bank lines. In fact, the only stable lengths of bank line were those held together by an assortment of old car bodies, appliances, and farm implements. The creek was “down in a hole,” meaning it was entrenched and no longer communicated with its floodplain during high water events. Trout habitat was all but completely missing, including spawning, rearing, and adult habitat types. There was virtually no riparian corridor left.

MRD and Headwaters Engineering began the project by collecting survey information and installing monitoring wells and test pits, while studying the creek reach wide, to identify a length of channel that was intact and healthy. Identification of this channel length informed the team as to potential restoration approaches possible for the project reach that would fit within the landowner’s budget.

The project consisted of two distinct approaches — in-channel restoration and channel relocation. Where the channel wasn’t overly incised and still able to connect to the floodplain, the design and build worked to address eroding bank lines, channel bed habitat simplicity, and a severe dearth of overhead cover and shade. Where the channel was overly incised, the channel was relocated to a new alignment with appropriate relative bed elevations and a platform that allowed for an ideal ratio of riffles to pools to optimize trout habitat. Gravel bar forms were designed and built on the inside of bends — both for conveyance during flooding, and to leave behind a surface that would naturally colonize with willows and trees; a cost-effective design element aiming to address the lacking shade and overhead cover. Local wetland sod mats were harvested and used for a wetland sod bank line construction technique completely unique to MRD that results in immediate resilience and overhead cover. Thousands of willow were planted, and cottonwood deadfall was imported to the project and incorporated into the build to add critical overhead cover and habitat. 

The project was a success, and the property, barely recognizable from its former state, was transformed. The project’s success created so much property value that it resulted in the landowner nearly doubling his money only a few short months after project completion, less than two years after the initial investment.