Butano Creek Channel Stabilization and Habitat Enhancement
The Butano Creek Channel Stabilization and Habitat Enhancement at the Cloverdale Road Bridge Project was a creek stabilization and habitat restoration project located on Butano Creek just south of Pescadero in unincorporate San Mateo County CA. Butano Creek is a vital fresh water supply source for local farming and critical salmonid spawning and aquatic species habitat. The project was a partnership between the San Mateo Resource Conservation District (SMRCD) and the San Mateo County Department of Public Works (SMCDPW) in conjunction with the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and a private landowner.
The project goals consisted of improving the salmonid passage and refugia habitat, reach stability and habitat complexity, and bridge pier scour protection by addressing channel incision, removing barriers, and stabilizing near vertical banks. A recent landslide adjacent to the Cloverdale Road bridge was removed and stabilized along with several highly eroded banks to reduce erosion and sedimentation resulting in lower Total Maximum Daily Loading (TMDL).
Hanford worked in unison with the project design consultant Waterways Consulting, Inc. implementing the design through a field fit process. Butano Creek was active and bypassed through a diversion and dewatering system for the duration of the project. Implementation consisted of over-excavating, filling, compacting, and placing engineered streambed material (ESM) along a 625-foot reach raising the channel bed approximately 4-feet, installing rock slope protection (RSP) within and around the bridge pier footprint, constructing rock buttresses, installing four (4) habitat pools with large woody debris (LWD) and habitat boulder features, and various riparian revegetation plantings and features.
Project Partners: San Mateo Resource Conservation District (SMRCD) and the San Mateo County Department of Public Works (SMCDPW)
In conjunction with the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and a private landowner.
