Estuarine Wetland and Anadramous Fish Habitat Mitigation
Mr. Gorman designed 65 acres of estuarine wetland and anadromous fish rearing habitat in the Columbia River Estuary to mitigate for estuarine and non-tidal fresh water wetlands proposed to be impacted by construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal and gas pipeline along the Columbia River. Design included plans and specifications for dike breaching and grading to create open water, low marsh, high marsh, and riparian habitats from severely degraded fresh water emergent habitat. Mr. Gorman managed the hydraulic modeling of the dike breaches to maximize tidal influence to the site, minimize flow velocities through dike breaches, assure fish passage, and to minimize construction costs. He prepared a grading design that emphasized hydrologic regimes that favored native estuarine vegetation and minimized conditions for non-native invasive species.