Proposal to Restore the East Fork of the Arkansas River.pdfVIP

RIPARIAN AND WETLAND CREATION ALONG A NEWLY CONSTRUCTED SEGMENT OF THE EAST FORK OF THE ARKANSAS 1 RIVER AT THE CLIMAX MINE 2 Robin F. Bay , Kenneth E. Carlson, and Bryce R. Romig Abstract. During past mining activities the East Fork of the Arkansas River was diverted through a 2000-foot long concrete pipe where it crosses Climax Molybdenum Company’s Climax Mine property at approximately 11,150 ft above mean sea level (3,400 m). In 2006, the mine initiated an ambitious project to daylight the river into a newly constructed channel. The goals of the project were to engineer a hydraulically stable and aesthetically pleasing stream channel and adjoining landform and to establish self-sustaining and diverse riparian and wet meadow plant communities and viable aquatic habitats. Revegetation was implemented in 2007 and 2008 after channel and adjacent topographic feature reconstruction was complete on the 15-acre site. Biosolids, composted on-site as a part of Climax’s EPA award-winning program, were the only soil amendment added to the site. Composted biosolids were spread over the disturbance area at a rate of 400 cubic yards per acre and were incorporated into the mineral soil fill material to a depth of 12 inches. The upland areas adjacent to the river were seeded with a mixture of native subalpine species at a rate of 30 pure live seeds per square foot. Additionally, 120 Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir transplants, harvested on the property, were