This study was undertaken as a Research and Development project funded by Supply and Services Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to develop stream rehabilitation options suitable for use in small, higher gradient streams damaged by mass wasting. The study tested three techniques including: 1) large organic debris (LOD) placements consisting of single logs; 2) multiple log structures (LOD arches); and 3) side channel ponds created with explosives. The study was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of specialists having expertise in salmon biology, geomorphology, and hydraulic engineering. Consultation between the team members was ongoing during design, construction, and evaluation stages.

Because of funding criteria, the project was designed as a 2-year study commencing in 1986 and concluding in 1987. This limited the post-construction evaluation of the structures to habitat alterations generated after the first winter of construction and only one winter of stream flows. As nature would have it, the winter of 1987 was relatively benign. Winter flows were unseasonably low and did not achieve flood heights sufficient to alter the sites as great as anticipated. In 1989, a series of very high floods occurred in the study streams which provided an opportunity to briefly examine the condition of the structures. The results of this survey are reported in appendix 4. In addition to these evaluation efforts, a follow-up study, replicating the original surveys including estimation of smolt production, was initiated by the Fish/Forestry Interaction Program (FFIP) in 1989. This study is underway and will be concluded following the 1990 downstream smolt migration and summer habitat evaluations.