Wetlands project up for council’s review
By Kevin Huelsmann, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
December 21, 2009
The Jackson Town Council is scheduled to review plans today to install treatment ponds in Karns Meadow.
Councilors are expected to discuss the first of three phases of the project, an attempt to filter sediment and debris from stormwater that drains into Flat Creek.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency lists Flat Creek as a threatened water body because of damage to trout habitat caused by excessive amounts of sediment, Dan Leemon, a water specialist with the Teton Conservation District, has said.
Councilors will take up the issue during a workshop meeting scheduled to start at 3 p.m. today at Town Hall, 150 E. Pearl Ave.
The project, which is estimated to cost about $1.4 million, will collect stormwater run-off from the East Jackson and north Broadway areas and divert it to settling ponds in Karns Meadow.
The ponds should allow sediment and particles collected from town streets to settle out of the water before it is pumped into Flat Creek.
In addition, the ponds, which are expected to take up about 4 acres, may improve wetlands within Karns Meadow, town engineer Shawn O’Malley said.
“The area right now is considered to be a degraded wetland,” O’Malley said. “The area used to be used for irrigation, and it still has those rights, but it isn’t used for that anymore. Basically, they’re wetlands on their last leg. So, we want to reroute water to where it used to be.”
O’Malley said construction at the site could disturb species that visit the meadow and added that the revegetation process could take several years.
“When we’re done excavating, it’s going to look like a motorcycle track,” O’Malley said. “We’ll replant the area with willows and sod. The spring after we excavate, things will start to come back; there will be some shoots, but it’s going to take a little while.”
O’Malley said the end result should prove to be an improvement to the current habitat in the meadow.
“There will probably be a temporary displacement of moose and deer, but it should all come back much stronger,” O’Malley said.
The town received a federal Clean Water Act grant for about $770,000. Town officials expect the remaining cost to be picked up by organizations participating in the project, including the Teton Conservation District, One Fly, 1 Percent for the Tetons, Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service and Ducks Unlimited, according to a staff report.
The first phase of the project consists of infrastructure improvements that are slated to be finished between May and June.
In the second phase, crews are expected to excavate the wetland basin and sediment ponds. That portion of the project is expected to be complete between July and September.
The third phase is set aside for rehabilitation and revegetation efforts to help improve the meadow and wetlands after the construction, which could take as long as two years, O’Malley said.
An agenda for today’s meeting is available at www.ci.jackson.wy.us or at Town Hall.
