Working with the Department of Health, drinking water providers at Lewis County Public Works, and Lichen Land & Water, Cascade Forest Conservancy has been working for the last year to assess restoration potential in the Salmon Creek watershed. This is the Salmon Creek that flows into the Cowlitz River and serves as a drinking water source for the cities of Vader and Castle Rock, WA. Most of the project area is on properties owned by Weyerhaeuser.

Our hope is to identify areas throughout the watershed where instream restoration, and low-tech process-based restoration in particular, can improve both drinking water and habitat quality. These riparian corridors are important for anadromous salmon, resident fish species, amphibians, and a multitude of species that depend on healthy and biodiverse river corridors.

Through restoration, our aim is to improve the quality of drinking water by addressing the current high levels of sedimentation in the water and to attenuate flows, thereby reducing costs for the municipalities and reducing the amount of chemicals and filters needed to bring high-quality drinking water to the residents of Castle Rock and Vader.