The Lower Clear Creek Floodway Rehabilitation Project is a multi-phased restoration project that will reverse the severe negative impacts of gold mining, timber harvesting, road building, upstream dams, and most significantly instream gravel mining, which removed an estimated several hundred-thousand cubic yards of gravel from the restoration sites in the 1970's and 1980's. The effects of these human land uses can be seen in the form of extensive channel incision down to the underlying clay hardpan, an unconfined and poorly defined inflow channel, and extensive stranding of both adult and juvenile anadramous fish.

The initial phases of the project targeted the most severe stranding locations by filling in the largest instream gravel mining pits. Functional floodplains were constructed in their place and revegetated with native riparian vegetation. The latest phase relocated and reconstructed the channel with clean spawning gravel. Large trees and rootwads were installed to protect the new bank and provide fish habitat. Future phases will return the creek to its historic location at the downstream end of the project reach where it had been diverted for past gravel mining operations. The material used to fill the mining pits was obtained from an upstream borrow source (Reading Bar) where the elevated floodplain rarely inundated. This area was restored and revegetated once the excess material had been removed.