The nonprofit midcoast watersheds council (mcwc) has been working for 25 years on the centraloregon coast to improve the health of streams, watersheds, and estuaries to produce clean water, rebuild…

The Midcoast Watersheds Council (MCWC) was awarded a $246,425 Project Grant under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Habitat Partnership (CFDA 15.686) program to develop designs for restoring 75 acres of tidal wetlands in the Alsea River estuary on the central Oregon coast. The objectives of this one-year design project are to assess site conditions, refine preliminary designs for a new bridge structure, update existing design plans, finalize flood modeling, submit the project for permitting, create 100% design plans, and develop a construction bid document. Key partners include the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Lincoln County Public Works, The Wetlands Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. This project was prioritized by the Oregon Central Coast Estuaries Collaborative and aims to restore approximately 34% of the historically lost vegetated tidal wetlands in the Alsea Bay.

The nonprofit midcoast watersheds council (mcwc) has been working for 25 years on the centraloregon coast to improve the health of streams, watersheds, and estuaries to produce clean water, rebuild healthy salmon populations, and in turn support a healthy coastal ecosystem, economy, and culture. This application seeks to develop designs over the next year to restore tidal conditionsto one half of bayview oxbow on the alsea river. This preserve owned by the wetlandsconservancy is one of the largest remaining restoration sites in this estuary and the goal of thisdesign project is to create a shovel ready plan for these 75 acres of wetlands. These plans will resultin the restoration of about 34 percent of the 223 acres of vegetated tidal wetlands in alsea BAY thathave been lost historically. Objectives are to assess site conditions, refine preliminary designs for anew bridge structure, update the existing 60 percent design plans to respond to new conditions onthe site, finalize flood modeling to ensure protection of surrounding properties, submit the projectfor permitting review, finalize 100 percent design plans for restoration project construction, andcreate a request for construction bid document. Partners working on this design project with mcwc include oweb (funder) and lincoln county public works (funder and technical advisor), the wetlands conservancy (landowner and outreach), ducks unlimited, and oregon department of fish and wildlife (technical advisors). This project was prioritized by the multi-stakeholder oregon central coast estuaries collaborative (occec) and awarded funding by oweb through the focused investment partnership (FIP) program.