Volunteers\u2019 project will connect Phoenix tributary to Bear Creek, aid fish<\/p>\n
Published 1:30 pm Thursday, August 28, 2025<\/p>\n
\n By TONY BOOM \/ for the Rogue Valley Times<\/strong><\/p>\n Native fish in Bear Creek will again benefit from the cool waters of three springs located in Phoenix after a project to remove a 680-foot-long berm, constructed in 1951, is completed.<\/p>\n Save the Phoenix Wetlands, a volunteer group organized early this decade, secured grants to pay for the project, which began last week. Blue Heron Creek, formed by the three springs, will be connected to the new Bear Creek channel created 74 years ago by a highway project.<\/p>\n \u201cThose little salmon and steelhead can make their way up into the cool water. It\u2019s great habitat in the wetlands,\u201d said Scott English with the wetlands group. \u201cThere will be a lot of opportunities provided to get out of the hot water in Bear Creek.\u201d<\/p>\n English, principal biologist with Northwest Biological Consultants, has worked on similar projects in Oregon, Washington and California. He is under contract as the project manager.<\/p>\n A $269,000 grant to remove the berm was awarded by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department\u2019s Private Forest Accord program. The grant proposal was prepared by the wetlands group, but it was awarded to Rogue Basin Partners, which has nonprofit 501(c)(3) status and will serve as project administrator.<\/p>\n A local match was made by in-kind contributions of work by the group and a $10,000 donation from the Watchable Wildlife Foundation.<\/p>\n The rock berm was built as part of the Bear Creek Drive project that rerouted north-bound Highway 99 and moved the Bear Creek channel from west of the roadway to the east.\u00a0The cut-off spring flow now forms a wetland before the berm.<\/p>\n The project area is about three-quarters of an acre located on land owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Besides connecting the creeks, the riparian area will be restored with native vegetation. The Bear Creek Greenway is the western boundary of the project.<\/p>\n Studies required by the city of Phoenix and ODOT prior to the project\u2019s start were conducted by Joey Howard of Cascade Stream Solutions. He will also be involved with creation of the meandering, new steam channel that connects to Bear Creek.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some places, (the berm is) nine feet tall. In other places, it just peters out,\u201d said Robert Coffan, a professional hydrologist who has helped prepare the wetland\u2019s application and is under contract as the project\u2019s hydrologist. The 1951 highway work reduced the riparian area of Bear Creek from 900 to 100 feet, he said.<\/p>\n When what was then the Oregon Highways Department created the new Bear Creek channel in 1951, it probably looked for a nearby space to dump the material they removed, English speculates. That led to the berm\u2019s creation near the channel, with large rip rack rock placed on top to prevent material washing downstream.<\/p>\n Almost all of the materials from the berm will be reused. A total of 1,700 cubic yards will be moved. On the first day, some of the rip rap was hauled to an ODFW project on Whetstone Creek and several larger boulders were moved to the Blackberry Academy Outdoor Preschool site in Blue Heron Park, where kids will be able to climb on them.<\/p>\n Included in the materials are rip rap boulders, river cobles and what is called overburden, a mix of soils, gravel and rock that had been collecting in the old creek bed for eons. Soil in the overburden is sought after, Coffan said. Plant Oregon will receive some, which it will sift to get the soil for its future plantings.<\/p>\n Up to 1,000 10-yard truck loads will be hauled from the site, said English. But a great deal of it will see various uses on site. P T Excavation is under contract to remove the berm and haul away materials.<\/p>\n The three springs that create the creek are on land owned by the city of Phoenix, including in Blue Heron Park. The wetland group worked with Rogue Riverkeeper to put a name on the stream formed by springs \u2014 Blue Heron Creek. The name became official on Oct. 12, 2023.<\/p>\n The wetlands group became interested in the area after a proposal for a commercial development on private land owned by the city\u2019s urban renewal agency emerged.\u00a0The Almeda Fire had removed blackberries, revealing the springs\u2019 existence.<\/p>\n At the source of one of the springs is a cold-water box that collects the outflow. That is piped a few hundred yards downstream to a former dairy milk house location that is likely more than 100 years old, said Coffan.\u00a0 There, the dairymen created a storage box where they could place large milk containers to receive the spring\u2019s coldest water. The milkhouse\u2019s concrete floor and spring box are located on private city land.<\/p>\n The wetlands group has monitored temperatures at the spring source. Records show it in June one year at 58 degrees, but rising to a peak of 64 in early October. That\u2019s below the critical 65 degrees that is hazardous to native fish in the summer.<\/p>\n When the removal and stream creation is finished in November, Rogue River Watershed Council will start a three-year contract to replant the area, remove invasive species and monitor results.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reconnection of Blue Heron Creek continues the trend of local partnerships to restore aquatic ecosystems that are critical to the continued survival of our native fish and wildlife,\u201d said Geoff Gerdes, Rogue District stream restoration biologist with ODFW. \u201cBlue Heron Creek will provide a cold-water refuge during critical summer months for all Bear Creek\u2019s native salmon and steelhead which will increase their chance for survival.\u201d<\/p>\n A Facebook page, Blue Heron Creek Riparian\/Wetland Restoration Project<\/a>, will carry updates.<\/p>\n