2 - Site Selection / Forest Road Deactivation Practices in the Pacific Northwest

Forest Road Deactivation Practices
in the Pacific Northwest

2 - Water Management	Social Impacts, Water Management Rules

Social Impacts

Proper water management is essential for sustainable operations in the forest industry. High water quality contributes to society as a whole through its recreational values, fish and wildlife habitat, visual aesthetics and tourism values as well as its importance as a domestic water supply for large and small communities. Sound water management strategies also ensure streambank and channel stability which are essential for successful spawning and rearing of resident and anadromous fish species. Finally, minimizing the disturbance to surface and subsurface flows will dramatically reduce the risk of landslides. This contributes to the safety of industrial workers and public users of the forest and improves access management.

Water Management Principles

Most road deactivation activities are subject to a considerable amount of planning. However, even in the absence of plans, much can be achieved by following some simple principles:

Water Manager's Tool Kit
Retain sufficient quantities of items below on-site:

geotextile and tarps;
silt fences;
lots of sand/plastic bags;
"Big O" (100mm to 500mm as needed);
grass seed, hay bales;
volume pump(s), spare(s) tools, gas, suction hose, various lengths of hose (10m, 20m, 30m).

Do not combine several watercourses into one ditch or channel.
Always work from upslope to downslope when dealing with road
systems with more than one road. This means that on adverse road
systems, you work your way in. This ensures that original surface
flow pattern are re-established.
Minimize disturbance to subsurface water flows.
Do not create slope instability by oversteepening cut and fill slopes.
Avoid disturbing sensitive soil and maintain water quality.
Do not introduce debris or soil into watercourses.
Design drainage structures adequately and install them correctly.
Have your "Water Manager's Tool Kit" (at right) well stocked and
ready, and be prepared to use it for sediment control.
Keep water flows wide and shallow to reduce erosive energy.
Do not cut corners and always expect the worst.

Proper road deactivation should follow the above basic principles. This often leads to reversing poor practices of the past, i.e., instead of combining several watercourses, direct creeks back into their natural (pre-construction) channels. Thisis extremely important in steep terrain. Before any deactivation work begins, operators and supervisors should always go through a Pre-work Checklist to ensure that they have all necessary approvals, information, tools and materials needed to complete the job.

2 - Site Selection