View projects in design and completed projects.
Balance Hydrologics provides a diverse set of clients restoration design services from development of conceptual design alternatives, to complete plans, specs and cost estimate packages. We typically support our designs with a strong field presence during construction often providing field engineering support and direction to operators and laborers. Our areas of expertise include channel and floodplain restoration, mitigation wetland creation, fish passage and habitat enhancement, channel bank repair, lagoon enhancement, and dam removal.
Balance Hydrologics has a unique expertise in the design and use of step-pools to stabilize and enhance function of steep stream reaches, and we are experienced in use of many bio-technical design approaches. We offer practical, field condition driven designs, as well as robust technical design analyses, when conditions demand in depth study. Our primary design goal for most projects is to develop features and forms which complement the landscape, and which are reflective of the dominant corridor processes.
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Five Mile Creek Fish Passage Improvement and Diversion Dam Removal 1, near Bly, Klamath County, Oregon
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Balance Hydrologics worked cooperatively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Black Drake Ranch to take a flashboard diversion dam off-line along the lower reaches of Five Mile Creek and replace it with a newly constructed channel. The project is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Restoration program. The primary goals of the project were to improve fish passage and rearing conditions for redb and and bull trout, as well as the Klamath large-scale sucker, while still maintaining the ability to divert water under an existing agricultural water right. The newly constructed channel is 600 feet long and consists of 9 riffle-pool sequences. Pools and meander bends were augmented and protected with large woody material and over twenty mature willows were transplanted along the newly constructed reach. Two undercut banks were also constructed along the new reach. The project was constructed in the fall of 2009, opening access to 26 miles of high-quality spawning and rearing habitat. Construction was conducted entirely by local ranchers whose irrigation supplies depend upon the project. It is the subject of a short film produced by USFWS, available at http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/224.
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San Pablo Creek Slope Stabilization and Floodplain Creation, San Pablo, California
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Balance Hydrologics was retained by the City of San Pablo Public Works Department to prepare design plans to stabilize a failing streambank along an arterial road in San Pablo. Following the flood of December 31, 2005, the City received FEMA funding to repair the slope and protect the adjacent Road 20 from potential collapse. Balance worked with the City, the permitting agencies and FEMA to identify a design solution to both stabilize the slope and Road 20, and also enhance stream corridor conditions. Agency driven stream corridor enhancement expectations were ultimately met through construction of a floodplain in this incised channel corridor which otherwise lacks any floodplain functions. The slope was reconstructed using a modular block wall protected with integrated floodplain edge log and boulder structures. The project was constructed in the fall 2009.
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Sheehy Creek Restoration, Napa County, California
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Working with experienced local biologists, Balance developed a stream restoration plan for a one-mile reach of Sheehy Creek in Napa County, CA. Based on geomorphic analysis, the develop design called for removal of the upper portions of steep, incised stream banks to create broad floodplains on both sides of the creek, while leaving the central channel intact. Several years of post-project monitoring have confirmed that the central channel just overflows onto the floodplain during 1.5 to 2-year floods, consistent with the design goals. The project was constructed in phases in 1998 and 2004. It now supports a vibrant riparian woodland, and has survived two major regional flood events without any need for repairs.
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Floodplain Restoration, Fourmile Creek, Klamath County, Klamath Falls, Oregon
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Working with a private landowner, the Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, and the local office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Balance Hydrologics led development of floodplain restoration design plans for several thousand feet of Fourmile creek located on the northwest side of Upper Klamath Lake. Years ago, Fourmile creek was straightened, leveed and moved from its historic alignment. The design intent of the project was to restore Fourmile Creek to flow along a section of its historic path, and provide opporutnites to inundate adjacent floodplains with a frequency more closely reflective of pre-settlement hydrologic process. The hope is that frequent overbank flooding will enhance habitat conditions for migratory birds who presently use the property every spring on their various journeys to summer breeding grounds. The project was constructed in the Fall of 2010.
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Coho Salmon High-Water Refuge and Rearing Habitat Enhancement Design and Implementation, San Vicente Creek, Santa Cruz County, California
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County, California
Balance Hydrologics partnered with NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District, and the California Coastal Conservancy to develop design concepts to create new off-channel, low-velocity refugia and rearing habitat for coho salmon along lower San Vicente Creek, Santa Cruz County, California — designated critical habitat for the federally-listed coho salmon. The final designs provide a 1,200 square foot off-channel pool with two undercut banks, accessed from the mainstem along an inlet channel with 5 boulder and log step-pools. The step-pool located closest to the mainstem offers undercut rootwad habitat for salmonids to utilize will feeding within the fast moving waters of the mainstem creek. A large wood structure was placed opposite the inlet channel mouth to promote annual scouring and inlet functionality. The project was constructed in the fall 2009 and 2010 and is presently being monitored for design effectiveness.
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Arastradero Gateway Creek Daylighting and Riparian Restoration Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California
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Balance Hydrologics teamed with a major restoration ecology firm to develop creek daylighting and riparian restoration design plans for the City of Palo Alto Open Space Division. The project was funded by a grant from the California State Riparian & Riverine Restoration Program. The 13-acre project site is part of the Arastradero Preserve and included a culverted tributary of Arastradero Creek. The design goal of the project was to daylight the tributary thereby providing an opportunity to create a functional riparian corridor suitable for a wide range of native plants and wildlife including California red-legged frogs. The completed project resulted in the daylighting of over 1,000 linear feet of creek and construction of an adjacent floodplain. The project was constructed in 2007.
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Dublin Ranch Phase II Western and Eastern On-site Channel Creation, Dublin, Alameda County, California
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Balance Hydrologics teamed with a major restoration ecology firm to design, relocate, and enhance two small perennial channels within the Dublin Ranch residential project in Alameda County, CA. The project encompassed design of close to 6,000 feet of stream and associated corridors. Through geomorphic analysis, hydraulic modeling, and the application of regional hydraulic geometry relationships tailored to the constraints of the project site, Balance prepared designs in concert with the partnering ecology firm that provide for both slow and fast water habitats, and overbank floodplain wetlands. Stream reaches with slopes in excess of 3% were stabilized with boulder step-pools while lower sloped reaches exhibit a meandering planform rooted in the clayey substrate of the project site. Step channel-fringing slopes were protected with log crib-walls and integrated boulder and log structures. In total, four separate projects were constructed from 2006 through 2008. The project is presently being monitored for design effectiveness.
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Channel and Wetland Repair Design, Upper Collier Creek, City of Livermore, Alameda County, California
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Balance Hydrologics was retained to assess existing hydrologic characteristics and develop repairs for two mitigation wetlands constructed in 1999 within Upper Collier Creek. Resource agencies had expressed concern that the project was not in compliance with its biological mitigation requirements. The upper site had aggraded due to sediment deposition, causing flows to bypass the channel except during high-flow events. Flow s in the lower site were not of sufficient depth to inundate the adjacent floodplain. Balance conducted a geomorphic evaluation, developed repair designs, and prepared construction drawings and specifications for the new features at the lower site so that construction could occur once the necessary permits were obtained. The project was constructed in 2005.
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UC Davis Tahoe City Field Lab Stream and Wetland Restoration Design, Placer County, California
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As part of the overall improvements underway to the UC Davis Tahoe City Field Station, Balance Hydrologics has led development of stream and wetland restoration plans in support of the field station mission of education and stewardship. UC Davis asked Balance to both restore and enhance the site’s hydrologic and ecologic functions, primarily within an existing spring-fed channel and adjoining wetland, which had earlier been filled, drained, and regraded. Construction of the project was completed in late-summer 2010.
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Blue Trail Gully Complex Slope Stabilization, Arana Gulch Watershed, City of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, California
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Balance Hydrologics, Inc. was retained by the Arana Gulch Watershed Alliance and the Santa Cruz County RCD to develop construction plans for stabilization of the Blue Trail gully complex in the Arana Gulch watershed. The Blue Trail gully complex had over years contributed hundreds of yards of sediments to Arana Gulch and project proponents had the clear goal to stem further erosion as eroded sediment ultimately is deposited i n the Santa Cruz Harbor. The project design involved construction of boulder stabilized drainage swales to convey both surface and discharged subsurface flow. The swales were seeded with a native seed mix and hundreds of native plants were installed over the approximate 0.5 acre slope. The project was completed in fall 2007 and 2008.
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North Fork Sprague River, Bank Stability-Habitat Enhancement, Ganong Ranch, Klamath County, Oregon
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Balance Hydrologics worked cooperatively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several landowners in upper North Fork Sprague River watershed to prepare design-build drawings to repair and stabilize 3 severely eroding meander bends, while providing the structure and cover to improve rearing habitat conditions. The project is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Restoration program. We utilized bioen gineering approaches to both stabilize the severely eroding banks and to promote re-establishment of geomorphic process and aquatic habitat maintenance and creation. Complex, large wood structures were constructed along the meander bends anchored with 1 to 2 ton boulders and augmented with spawning gravels. Willow and alder were transplanted when available. The newly constructed banks will act to re-direct flow, enhance boundary roughness, and lead to generation of enhanced fishery habitat. The projects were constructed in the fall 2009.
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Stevens Creek Blackberry Farm Stream Corridor Restoration, City of Cupertino Public Works Department, Santa Clara County, California
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Balance Hydrologics cooperatively led the development of a stream corridor restoration plan for Stevens Creek at Blackberry Farm. The stream corridor designs were rooted within a set of robust fluvial geomorphic, hydrologic, sediment transport, and fishery habitat analyses, each of which were peer reviewed by scientists and engineers at the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The primary focus of the project was to replace fo ur steelhead trout migration barriers with stable, self-sustaining channel forms providing geomorphic, hydraulic and ecological functionality. The restoration approach included complete relocation of 1,300 feet of stream to afford maximum corridor stability, and provide space for a mature riparian canopy. The design also included construction of 9 pool-riffle sequences with access to off-channel habitats, placement of large woody elements, creation of a floodplain, and stabilization of highly unstable slopes of varying size utilizing biotechnical methods of slope stabilization. The project was constructed in 2008. It has been given an award by the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program for site design related to storm water pollution prevention. The project is presently being monitored for design effectiveness.
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Chocktoot Creek Re-Naturalization, The Nature Conservancy, Klamath and Lake Counties, Oregon
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Working with a Klamath Falls civil design firm, Balance Hydrologics led the channel-stability, geomorphologic, and recharge/groundwater elements of re-naturalization plan development for the lower reaches of Chocktoot Creek, a seasonal tributary to the world-famous Sycan River marsh within the Upper Klamath Basin. Chocktoot Creek was diverted and realigned during the late 1930s and 1940s for range improvement. The project wa s headed by The Nature Conservancy in their long-term efforts to broadly restore hydrologic and biologic functions to the Sycan River marsh. Construction was completed in the summer of 2010 and the first full cycle of restoring streamflow to the Sycan River marsh from Chocktoot Creek will occur during the spring of 2011.
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Floodplain and Off-channel Habitat Enhancement Design, Lagun
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Working with California State Parks, NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District, and the California Coastal Conservancy, Balance Hydrologics led development of design documents to provide for an enhanced floodplain and associated off-channel habitat elements along the near-tidal reach of Laguna Creek. The design process occurred through consensus building w ithin the group of project partners and involved plan peer review by agency experts. The completed project has created more than 0.5 acres of new floodplain, as well as two distinct and new off-channel refuge and rearing pools for Coho and other species. Construction of the project was completed in the fall of 2010.
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Bernal Creeks Restoration, City of Pleasanton, Alameda County, California
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Balance Hydrologics led an interdisciplinary team that addressed a wide range of issues related to restoring and naturalizing flood control channels crossing the City of Pleasanton’s 680-acre Bernal Property. Balance staff prepared the initial channel restoration plan incorporating extensive on-site investigations, regional fluvial geomorphic relationships, data from Zone 7 Flood Control, and supplemental historical researc h. The plan features the complete re-naturalization of several thousand feet of flood control channel in the Sycamore and Mission Creek drainages tributary to Arroyo de la Laguna and Alameda Creek. The project was constructed in 2006.
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Tucker Road Ford Removal and Salmonid Fish Passage Enhancement, West Branch Soquel Creek, Santa Cruz County, California
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Working with a Santa Cruz civil design firm, Balance Hydrologics co-planned and designed for the removal of the Tucker Ford road crossing on the West Branch of Soquel Creek, Santa Cruz County, California. The primary focus of the project was to enhance salmonid passage conditions at the Ford, and provide an alternate means of creek crossing for local residents. Balance Hydrologics served as the design fluvial geomorphologist and geologist for the project. Balance conducted detailed geomorphic and geologic mapping of the reach with special emphasis on estimating depth to bedrock at the Ford. Bed cores were taken from riffles, active channel geometries were measured, and incipient-motion computations were completed to support design development. The project was constructed in Fall 2006.
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Arastradero Preserve
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Balance Hydrologics teamed with a major restoration ecology firm to develop creek daylighting and riparian restoration design plans for the City of Palo Alto Open Space Division. The project was funded by a grant from the California State Riparian & Riverine Restoration Program. The 13-acre project site is part of the Arastradero Preserve and included a culverted tributary of Arastradero Creek. The design goal of the project was to daylight the tributary thereby providing an opportunity to create a functional riparian corridor suitable for a wide range of native plants and wildlife including California red-legged frogs. The completed project resulted in the daylighting of over 1,000 linear feet of creek and construction of an adjacent floodplain. The project was constructed in 2007.
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Off-Channel Habitat Enhancement and Bank-Protection Design and Implementation, San Vicente Creek, Santa Cruz County, California
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Balance Hydrologics worked cooperatively with NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Santa Cruz County RCD, the California Coastal Conservancy and local fisheries biologists to enhance an existing off-channel habitat feature at a site on lower San Vicente Creek, designated critical habitat for federally-listed coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). The project was conceived after coho and steelhead were discovered during a survey of an abandoned off-channel irrigation pond, intermittingly accessible depending on mouth sedimentation conditions. Balance worked with the project partners and developed plans to provide for a more stable inlet configuration to enhance fish access, and maintain year-round flows to the pond. The project was constructed in 2008.
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Refugio Creek Channel Restoration, City of Hercules, Contra Costa, California
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Balance Hydrologics developed design level channel and floodplain geometry for this major Brownfields restoration project involving over 4000 linear feet of Refugio Creek in the City of Hercules. In addition, Balance was responsible for hydraulic modeling of the restored floodplain as well as providing design support for the channel grading plans. Coordination of floodplain grading with the project biologist was particularly important given the need to create a suite of wetlands with varying hydroperiods and habitat. The project was constructed in 2001.
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Arana Gulch, Lower Services Road, Stream Crossing Rehabilitation, Santa Cruz County, California
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Balance Hydrologics worked cooperatively with the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department and the Santa Cruz County RCD to develop design plans focused at rehabilitating a failing at-grade road crossing, as well as stabilizing a small tributary to the West Branch of Arana Gulch. The road crossing was designed to accommodate clear passage and associated loading from a single axle fire truck and was constructed with pre-cast concrete pavers. Three step-pools were constructed on the downstream side of the crossing with boulders and large wood to help stabilize the receiving reach of channel and dissipate flow energy developed as a result of the sequence of 1 foot + drops. The project was constructed in the fall 2009.
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Refugio Creek
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Balance Hydrologics developed design level channel and floodplain geometry for this major Brownfields restoration project involving over 4000 linear feet of Refugio Creek in the City of Hercules. In addition, Balance was responsible for hydraulic modeling of the restored floodplain as well as providing design support for the channel grading plans. Coordination of floodplain grading with the project biologist was particularly important given the need to create a suite of wetlands with varying hydroperiods and habitat. The project was constructed in 2001.
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Sheehy Creek Restoration
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Working with experienced local biologists, Balance developed a stream restoration plan for a one-mile reach of Sheehy Creek in Napa County, CA. Based on geomorphic analysis, the develop design called for removal of the upper portions of steep, incised stream banks to create broad floodplains on both sides of the creek, while leaving the central channel intact. Several years of post-project monitoring have confirmed that the central channel just overflows onto the floodplain during 1.5 to 2-year floods, consistent with the design goals. The project was constructed in phases in 1998 and 2004. It now supports a vibrant riparian woodland, and has survived two major regional flood events without any need for repairs.
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Five Mile Creek Fish Passage Improvement and Diversion Dam Removal 2, near Bly, Klamath County, Oregon
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Balance Hydrologics worked cooperatively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Black Drake Ranch in preparing design-build drawings to remove of an irrigation flashboard diversion dam, and construct log and boulder step-pools in its place. The project is located along the lower reaches of Five Mile Creek and is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Restoration program. The primary goals of the pr oject were to improve fish passage and rearing conditions for redband and bull trout, as well as the Klamath large-scale sucker, while still maintaining the ability to divert water under an existing agricultural water right. The log and boulder step-pools were constructed to 6 inch jump height specifications with downstream pools constructed with scour depths of 3 to 4 feet. The project was designed around mature vegetation and additional large-woody material was placed to provide cover and resting habitat for all fish. The project was constructed in the fall of 2009.
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Dublin Ranch
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Balance Hydrologics teamed with a major restoration ecology firm to design, relocate, and enhance two small perennial channels within the Dublin Ranch residential project in Alameda County, CA. The project encompassed design of close to 6,000 feet of stream and associated corridors. Through geomorphic analysis, hydraulic modeling, and the application of regional hydraulic geometry relationships tailored to the constraints of the project site, Balance prepared designs in concert with the partnering ecology firm that provide for both slow and fast water habitats, and overbank floodplain wetlands. Stream reaches with slopes in excess of 3% were stabilized with boulder step-pools while lower sloped reaches exhibit a meandering planform rooted in the clayey substrate of the project site. Step channel-fringing slopes were protected with log crib-walls and integrated boulder and log structures. In total, four separate projects were constructed from 2006 through 2008. The project is presently being monitored for design effectiveness.
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Stevens Creek Blackberry Farm Corridor Restoration
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Balance Hydrologics cooperatively led the development of a stream corridor restoration plan for Stevens Creek at Blackberry Farm. The stream corridor designs were rooted within a set of robust fluvial geomorphic, hydrologic, sediment transport, and fishery habitat analyses, each of which were peer reviewed by scientists and engineers at the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The primary focus of the project was to replace fo ur steelhead trout migration barriers with stable, self-sustaining channel forms providing geomorphic, hydraulic and ecological functionality. The restoration approach included complete relocation of 1,300 feet of stream to afford maximum corridor stability, and provide space for a mature riparian canopy. The design also included construction of 9 pool-riffle sequences with access to off-channel habitats, placement of large woody elements, creation of a floodplain, and stabilization of highly unstable slopes of varying size utilizing biotechnical methods of slope stabilization. The project was constructed in 2008 and has received the ASCE Region 9 Park Design of the year award for 2010 as well as an Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program award from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The project is presently being monitored for design effectiveness.
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Wrigley Creek Channel Corridor and Bay-Fringe Wetland Enhancement, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Milpitas, Santa Clara County, California
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Working with a team of restoration professionals, Balance Hydrologics led the planning and development of enhancement plans for the middle reaches of Wrigley Creek as compensatory mitigation for the Freight-Railroad Relocation project associated with BART extension to Silicon Valley. Building on our experience with assessing and developing innovative approaches to lessen the impacts of urbanization on South Bay channels, we h ave designed the enhanced Wrigley Creek channel to spill several times per year (typically) onto 1.01 acres of created floodplain. Floodplain connectivity along the enhanced Wrigley Creek is accentuated by a planform geometry with a sinuosity ranging from 1.1 to 1.9, reflective of the Bay fringe nature of the site. The project was constructed in the fall of 2010.
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North Fork Sprague River Restoration, Ganong Ranch and Bailey Flat, Klamath County, Oregon
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A key 1.3-mile reach of the North Fork Sprague River, where it emerges from the Fremont National Forest, was straightened and aligned in the 1960’s along one side of the canyon, held in place by riprapped levees. Private property owners and the USFWS retained Balance Hydrologics to re-naturalize the river corridor and enhance aquatic habitat for native redband and bull trout, as well as the Klamath large-scale sucker, all s pecies of concern. Field-based design analysis, flow simulations and conceptual design approaches were developed in 2009. After reaching consensus amongst the project stakeholders, final design-build plans were completed, providing a river corridor layout that will restore hydrologic, sediment transport and nutrient processes to the corridor. This will primarily be accomplished through reconnection of the floodplain to the river, and incorporating off-river wetlands to the mainstem river system. The design approach will also add resiliency to the corridor in the face of post-fire sedimentation or major floods. The project was constructed in the summer and fall of 2010 and represents one the largest restoration projects yet attempted in the upper Klamath watershed.
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Stream Bank Stabilization and Stream Enhancement, San Pablo Creek, Orinda, California
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Balance Hydrologics was retained by a private landowner along San Pablo Creek in Orinda, California to develop bank stabilization and creek enhancement plans to stem further bank erosion and improve overall conditions of San Pablo Creek through the owner’s property. Balance worked with the permitting agencies to build consensus towards an appropriate design approach meeting the diverse goals of the project. The design appr oach provides use of a log crib-wall to ameliorate bank erosion, two step-pools to both dissipate hydraulic energy and to enhance aquatic habitat, and wrapped fill lifts to add structure to the reconstructed bank slopes. The project was complemented with a native-oriented planting plan. The project was constructed in the fall of 2010.
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Santa Cruz, CA
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Channel and Floodplain Enhancement
City of Cupertino, CA
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Napa, CA
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Contra Costa, CA
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Channel Design and Corridor Creation
City of Dublin, CA
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Santa Clara, CA
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Channel and Floodplain Enhancement
City of Hercules, CA
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Santa Clara, CA
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Stream restoration and corridor enhancement
Napa, CA
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Channel Daylighting and Corridor Creation
City of Palo Alto, CA
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