Wimpey Creek Restoration – Lemhi County, Idaho

Project Summary

Wimpey Creek is a tributary to the Lemhi River, located near Salmon, Idaho. Wimpey Creek has been subject to numerous past and on-going disturbances including clearing of vegetation for agriculture, grazing, land development and diversion of water that has led to degraded aquatic habitat. Trout Unlimited is working with several other partners to restore aquatic habitat in the Lemhi River and tributaries. Wimpey Creek historically supported spawning and rearing for steelhead, spring/summer Chinook, and bull trout and Trout Unlimited would like to restore habitat for those species.
Geum teamed with River Design Group, Inc. to develop a restoration design for a one-mile segment of Wimpey Creek near the confluence with the Lemhi River. The desired future condition for the project area maximizes ecological site potential by restoring native plant communities, providing preferred habitat for listed fish species, and establishing sustainable stream and floodplain morphology in the context of existing constraints. Design elements include: channel realignment, floodplain reconnection, streambank revegetation, and installation of large woody debris habitat structures. The restoration design for Wimpey Creek was completed in winter 2016 and restoration work is scheduled to take place in fall 2017.

Services that Geum provides for the Wimpey Creek Restoration project include:

• Coordination of LiDAR data acquisition for the project area
• Collection of ecological and aquatic habitat data to support restoration design
• Coordination and support for geomorphic and hydrologic data collection to support restoration design
• Development of a conceptual design report to document existing conditions and provide restoration design alternatives
• Development of a 30% level design to support project coordination and funding
• Wetland delineation and report to support permitting
• Development of an 80% level design to support project permitting and contracting