The logs are designed to keep the creek from migrating toward its banks while also serving as fish habitat. Photo by Bob Gross at Northland CollegeĮngineering firms Inter-Fluve and Fish Creek Restoration, LLC, have been working on the project's design and installing layers of logs into the stream bed, which are cabled together near the base of eroding bluffs along Fish Creek. The engineering firm Inter-Fluve has been installing layers of logs into the stream bed and cabling them together near the base of eroding bluffs along Fish Creek. "This project will build resilience to our natural systems as a buffer against our changing climate," said Hudson. Despite the lack of rain, Lake Superior saw half a dozen minor blooms this year as it’s become one of the fastest warming lakes in the world. Nutrients that run off into the lake along with sediment following large storms are seen as factors that set the stage for blue-green algae blooms to form. While bluffs along the creek are naturally susceptible to erosion, Hudson said human activity has exacerbated the problem and climate change is only making it worse. Sediment pollution is estimated to cause around $16 billion in environmental damage each year nationwide as particles cloud the water, preventing fish from seeing food and absorbing warmth from the sun. The influx of sediment poses threats to fish and wildlife habitats in Fish Creek - a Class I trout stream - and costly water treatment for Ashland residents. "It will lessen sediment that covers trout spawning gravel in Fish Creek and reduce sediment that flows into Lake Superior, where the city of Ashland gets its drinking water," said Ted Koehler, a fish biologist with the U.S. The project aims to prevent eroding bluffs from sending around 5,600 tons of sediment each year downstream into the bay and ultimately Lake Superior.Ī mix of local, state and federal partners are wrapping up a stream restoration project that aims to prevent thousands of tons of sediment from reaching the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. Now, a mix of local, state and federal partners are wrapping up a $320,000 restoration project funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as part of a broader years-long effort to slow the flow of runoff into the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. "This is ground zero for sediment and phosphorus contributions to Chequamegon Bay," said Matt Hudson, associate director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College. Highway 2 has long since been repaired, the flood created a 630-feet-long and 55-feet-high scar along the north fork of Fish Creek, west of Ashland. Now, a project aims to slow the flow of runoff as the region faces more frequent, intense storms due to climate change.Īround 45,000 tons of sediment surged downstream into the Chequamegon Bay during the once-in-a-lifetime storm that marked the region’s third 500- to 1,000-year rainfall event in just seven years. ![]() In 2018, flooding over Father's Day weekend carved a hole through a major highway in far northwestern Wisconsin, disrupting travel for months and sending three times the amount of sediment that flows each year into one Lake Superior bay.
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