_{Thumbnail: Aerial shot of the Elk Creek watershed looking west toward the Pacific Ocean. | Photo courtesy of Smith River Alliance and Stillwater Sciences}

Smith River Alliance Co-Director Grant Werschkull acknowledged that breathing new life into Elk Creek’s wetlands could be an economic boon for Crescent City.

But to illustrate his point that restoring the tidal channels and swales would make a difference during a tsunami or a flood, he pointed councilors to a 2015 New Yorker article about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the massive earthquakes it is capable of generating and its threat to coastal communities like Crescent City.

“The title is the ‘Really Big One’,” Werschkull said, referring to the article. “Seismologists, the experts that we have, participated in that (article) and it talks about how we are right now at a date when it is timely that it could happen.”

Four Crescent City councilors on Monday unanimously supported the Smith River Alliance’s efforts to restore a 420-acre portion of the Elk Creek watershed. Werschkull presented councilors with three alternatives ahead of two listening sessions scheduled for Thursday at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds.

According to Werschkull, the listening sessions will give people an opportunity to weigh in on the projects and will be held from 2 p.m to 4 p.m and from 6 p.m. to 8 pm. For more information, click here.

Each of the three alternatives enhances the community’s ability to withstand flooding from storms or tsunamis, Werschkull said. Two involve improved public access in the form of an out-and-back trail or a loop trail.

“There’s been a lot of historic fill in the wetlands area in that particular property,” Werschkull said, adding that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife owns and manages the area as the Elk Creek Wetlands Wildlife Area. “That means there’s been levies and there’s been historic fill and those can constrain a tsunami-type event, which means rather than going into the wetland it’s spread out into the community.”

The 420-acre area on Crescent City’s eastern edge was once the site of the Hobbs, Wall & Co. and McNamara & Peepe sawmills. The area includes a mill pond, oxbow ponds and coastal wetlands. 

According to Werschkull’s presentation, the Smith River Alliance hired Stillwater Sciences, a natural resources management and habitat restoration firm that has offices in the Western United States, including Arcata. Stillwater Sciences prepared a feasibility study people can view by clicking here.

The first project option involves a “light touch” that includes no public access enhancements. The topography would be similar to existing conditions, though the project involves excavating four “relatively small connections” between elk creek and the wetlands on the north side. It would also include adding habitat structures and invasive plant management targeting Himalayan blackberries, English ivy and English holly.

The second option would involve a “moderate touch” and include an out-and-back trail for the public. It would include excavating channels and swales to accommodate natural tidal flow for the north main stem of Elk Creek.

The third option would include the north and south side of Elk Creek within the 420-acre area and would involve installing deeper channel tidal channels. A loop trail for the public is also proposed. 

“One of the reasons it’s very important to have the public participate as well as other stakeholders is so everybody gets to weigh in and share what their feelings and thoughts are,” Werschkull said. “What will happen in the listening sessions is there will be a break out into small groups so people will really have a chance to engage more and share their personal experiences, particularly when you start thinking about some of the recreational opportunities that could be possible with this.”

In terms of funding for the project, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are two Werschkull mentioned. NOAA is also a potential funder for the project, he said, especially since enhancing the watershed also enhances habitat for salmonids. 

Increasing public access in the Elk Creek watershed was one of the items listed in the city’s Economic Development Strategic Action Plan adopted in 2021, City Manager Eric Wier told the Council. He noted that having an urban stream like Elk Creek makes Crescent City unique.

“One of the things that was discussed was to develop a trailhead and a kayak launching point as well,” Wier said. “You can actually kayak elk creek. It is narrow, but you can do that and make your way up Elk Creek when the tides are right.”

Councilor Candace Tinkler brought up her childhood in Redding and used her proximity to the Sacramento River to illustrate what can happen when communities allow for increased public access.

“Instead of it being a place you tell your kids not to go to, because there’s always bikers there, there are always walkers, it is very very safe,” she said. “It has also been an enormous opportunity in Redding ot teach people who might not have the environmental opportunities or connections about the river itself.”

In addition to enhancing the community’s resilience to tsunamis, Tinkler said, increasing public access opportunities for Elk Creek can be an economic benefit to Crescent City.

Her colleague, Councilor Jason Greenough, said he was concerned about the ability to police the area and asked Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin to weigh in.

Griffin said the city boundary runs from just past the S curves south of the Renner building to the northeast behind the youth opportunity center. CCPD’s jurisdiction overlaps with the California Highway Patrol and CDFW at the trailhead at the end of second street, he said. 

CCPD’s jurisdiction accounts for a very small portion of the proposed project site, Griffin said.

“I don’t see a problem with the project itself at all,” he said.