BEND, OR -- A five-year project to restore Riverbend Park is nearly complete, following a joint effort by the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and Bend Parks & Recreation District. The trail from Bill Healy Bridge to the Farewell Bend footbridge has reopened.
Watershed Council Executive Director Kris Knight says the work was necessary to reverse damage done by the thousands of visitors accessing the river each year, "Over time, we just watched those streambanks just erode back by feet - multiple feet. That erosion, that soil or sediment, ends up going down the stream and it fills up Mirror Pond or someplace like it." He adds, "It used to be that people could just access anywhere. So there were at least a dozen spots where the river was eroding as people got in and out of the river. What we’ve done now is put up a nice split-rail fence, and we’ve got three really nice access points that have stone steps down to the river. And while they enjoy it, we’re also taking care of that stretch of river and keeping it healthy." Much of the work was done by Cascade Civil Corp, a Redmond-based contractor.
Knight tells KBND News there's also a new marsh area to improve river health, "We’re just trying to create a healthier space where there’s trees and shrubs growing along the river, they’re providing shade for the river. They’re also just providing habitat."
More work is on the way over the next couple of months, "Community groups or local students that’ll come out with our Upper Deschutes Watershed Council staff, and they’ll be planting native plants along the river - to do all the landscaping, if you will, along the river; to bring those native trees and shrubs back to the site. The other piece is we’ve got a couple of interpretive signs to install. Those are going to go at one of the access points."
The $650,000 project was paid for by the parks district and through grant funds secured by the Watershed Council. "This can be a model for our the Bend Park and Recreation District can do more projects like this at their parks along the river in Bend," says Knight, "Where they can balance recreation access and protecting the river."
Click HERE to view more photos of the work and to read more about the project.
