The Ames Creek Restoration coalition has secured much of the funding necessary to begin work at Sankey Park, the third phase of its project.
The group includes a number of individuals, organizations and public agencies.
Work on Ames Creek in Sankey Park should begin next year with phase two of the project complete sometime next spring.
The group is still waiting for a Division of State Lands permit for work in the phase two area, between 12th Avenue and Main Street, Sweet Home Community Development Director Carol Lewis said. “In the interim, an engineer and hydrologist are refining their work on that portion of the project.
Over the summer, volunteers removed ivy and cleaned trash out of the stream and its banks, opening up a larger area to help relieve flooding pressure on other areas.
Among the remaining work, the group will soften the slopes of the stream’s banks in some areas to help prevent flooding and erosion problems, Lewis said. The portion of Ames Creek directly west of CenturyTel’s yard on Long Street needs particular attention. The stream takes runoff from the parking area there, allowing oil into the stream. The banks at that location are barren and allow erosion. Solutions will include planted swails to naturally filter the runoff and prevent erosion.
The group has discovered a number of previously unidentified utility lines and is trying to figure out what it can do around those lines, especially in the Long Street area.
What swailed area will in some ways create a natural garden, which will help cool the water and make the creek look much better there, Lewis said. In the NAPA and Sweet Home Inn areas, the group plans to soften the bank slopes and plant to prevent erosion problems.
Lewis expects about a week of work after the DSL permit is approved. That permit has been in process for five months, and if it is not approved by September, the work may not be started till next year. The project should be completed next spring with planting, although fall is the first choice if everything is in place in time.
The group has about $20,000 in U.S. Forest Service left to complete the project. That grant expires in December, so the group may need to ask for an extension on the grant if permitting is not completed fast enough.
At Sankey Park, through various sources, upward of $260,000 has been secured for the project. The funding will help implement the plan drafted by landscape architect Ed Hilliard. The funding does not cover the three foot bridges, numerous interpretive stations or changes to the parking lot at Sankey Park.
“A goodly portion of the primary work we’re in good shape for,” Lewis said. The funding already available will get work started this year with engineering and design work.
The group hopes to start work on the Sankey Park portion of the project next year following permitting.
The Sankey Park design will include eight to 10 eight-inch steps through the park to allow cutthroat to move upstream. The creek will be realigned, sweeping toward the softball fields and behind the Community Center then back toward the park, under the Weddle Bridge and past the south end of Dahlenburg Bridge.
The channel past Dahlenburg bridge will be softened to prevent erosion where it currently flows at a 90-degree angle. The water will pool on the west side of Dahlenburg bridge, providing a place for fish to rest before climbing upstream. That bridge will end overlooking the stream with an interpretive station.
As Ames Creek flows through Sankey Park, there will be some pooling during the wet season with wetland plants growing along the banks.
The group is still hoping to work with the National Guard to build at least one bridge in the project.