Big Lake, located in the fast-developing Mat-Su Basin, is a large well populated and heavily recreated lake in the growing community of Big Lake just west of the City of Wasilla. The lake itself, with 26 miles of shoreline, and two streams in its basin, are used by spawning sockeye and coho salmon each year, and host resident populations of Dolly Varden, Rainbow Trout, and other fish.
Both Fish Creek, which drains directly into the Pacific at the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet, and Meadow Creek, a spring-fed system which empties into Big Lake, are important salmon waters with several active partner studies, angling recreation, water monitoring, and youth & community volunteers participating in hands-on restoration projects.
This waterbody has been the centerpiece of the Big Lake Community’s discussions in plans to expand, possibly incorporating as City, and in the oncoming construction of a rail spur connecting Port Mackenzie in the south to Alaska’s Interior and the rest of 26,000 square miles Mat-Su Borough and industrial opportunities along the railway. The area is changing rapidly, and it is hoped that designation as a Water to Water 2013 will serve to celebrate and highlight many partners’ efforts and projects towards a healthy development model embracing preservation of clean water and the integrity of fish habitat. Big Lake Community is working on a Community Impact Assessment Project with the Mat-Su Borough to address responsible growth, including habitat concerns.
Big Lake is listed as an Impaired Waterbody by DEC for hydrocarbon-water quality exceedances, and ongoing testing and outreach programs are addressing point and non-point source pollution vectors.
Spread Creek, Wyoming
Prior to 2010, the Spread Creek dam, located just outside of Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) on Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) lands, prevented native fish migration to the upper reaches of the drainage. In 2010, the obsolete diversion dam used for irrigation was removed by Trout Unlimited, GTNP, and numerous other partners, opening up over 50 miles of Spread Creek to migratory cutthroat trout for the first time in over 50 years. This structure had been a complete barrier to the upstream movement of native fish attempting to move from the mainstem Snake River to historical spawning and rearing grounds in Spread Creek. The modernized diversion structure that was installed in its place for water users gradually elevates the water to be diverted over a series of weirs and pools and allows for fish passage throughout the year and at varying flows.
Post-dam removal project monitoring by project partners through a PIT tag study and coordinated annual fish salvage efforts demonstrated that the project was highly successful in reconnecting upper and lower Spread Creek and the Snake River. However, it also confirmed that a fish screen was warranted on the Spread Creek irrigation system’s ditches. With the increased use of upstream habitat for spawning and rearing, many juvenile and adult Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and other native nongame fish like bluehead suckers (a Wyoming Species of Greatest Conservation Need) were being swept into the Spread Creek irrigation system’s ditches when trying to out-migrate throughout the year. Once entrained, these fish were not able to escape back into Spread Creek.
Concurrent with the fish salvage sampling in the Spread Creek irrigation system, project partners had been monitoring stream stability following dam removal and noted that Spread Creek is a highly unstable, high bedload, high sediment channel. This was evidenced by flooding in 2011, which damaged the diversion structure’s rock weirs and led to issues with water delivery and channel scouring, necessitating emergency bank stabilization work and other repairs in 2016. However, continued damage and issues with maintaining water delivery during high flow events in 2017 and 2018 (requiring heavy equipment instream on multiple occasions to clear debris and build a low-flow intake channel), and associated sedimentation and bank instability, indicated that a more stable, long-term solution was needed to establish consistent design flows for the fish screen, re-establish optimal hydraulics for fish passage (there was an 18” drop between structures, which is much greater than the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s recommendation of 4”), and provide reliable water delivery to irrigators. The washout of the Park’s access road to the site in 2018, which resulted in 1,200 cubic yards of land loss and erosion, and the observation of a headcut moving upstream in the direction of the diversion by project engineers, further demonstrated Spread Creek’s extreme instability and risk to fish habitat, water quality, and irrigation infrastructure.
This final phase of the Spread Creek Fish Passage Project ensured unimpeded migration between the Snake River and Spread Creek through installation of a fish screen that prevents losses of native fish and by stabilizing, improving, and protecting the diversion and irrigation infrastructure. It accomplished this by 1) installing a fish screen designed to eliminate fish entrainment in ditches while continuing to deliver water even if clogged; 2) rehabilitating the diversion structure and changing it from a series of rock weirs to a rock ramp, for long-term stability and improved fish passage; and 3) adding instream structures such as rock barbs, toe rock, and engineered log jams to protect banks, channel, and irrigation infrastructure within the project area and improve local habitat and water quality conditions for native fish. These actions will ensure future water delivery to the irrigation system and fish screen and maintain and improve fish passage for all life stages of native fish to the 50 miles of upper Spread Creek opened up by the dam removal phase of the project. This project was a true win-win for native fish, water users, land managers, and the public.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Project implementation eliminate the only threat of entrainment for native fish in Spread Creek, the last remaining anthropogenic threat to native fish in this very high conservation priority system. It will also improve local habitat and passage conditions for native fish and water quality (by addressing sediment pollution from bank and channel erosion). It showcases stewardship and improved management of natural resources by the National Park Service and US Forest Service in a publicly accessible area that is visited by the local community and visitors, and provide one of the most visible examples of a fish screen in the area. It will also engage community members in the project through volunteer opportunities and potentially through youth education. This project dovetails with the previous dam removal phase of the project by providing a completely reconnected tributary system for migrating native fish accessing spawning and rearing grounds from the Upper Snake River.
Project Timeline Milestones:
• Stakeholder discussions were first initiated in 2016. Project goals and objectives were defined and alternatives analyses, accompanying reports, and 60% designs were developed from 2017 to 2018. 60% designs and construction budget estimates were completed in 2019. Final 100% design plans were completed in 2020.
• A monitoring plan with the BTNF, GTNP, and WGFD was developed and pre-project monitoring completed in 2020. Post-project monitoring is in progress. The final fish rescue held in September 2022 documented a significantly lower number of cutthroat trout entrained, and primarily young of year native suckers, dace, and sculpin – presumably fish that entered the irrigation ditches prior to the fish screen being installed in mid-July 2022.
• Materials procurement began in summer 2020 and was completed in fall 2021. The majority of the rock for the project was donated by Grand Teton National Park from their RKO rock pit, at a value of more than $300,000. The remainder of the rock was hauled to the project site from the Gros Ventre levee and Pinedale area. The trees for the project were donated by the Bridger-Teton National Forest from near the project area.
• Construction mobilization and implementation began in late October 2021. The diversion, bank, and channel instream work was completed in November 2022. The fish screen construction was postponed due to concrete pricing and contractor availability as well as the onset of cold weather. It was completed from March 2022 to July 2022.
• A film about the Spread Creek project and partnerships was produced. It was distributed through Trout Unlimited’s website, TU’s social media channels, and by project partners in August 2022, and engaged the local community as well as national audiences with the project. View online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVlp1gI0q_g
• A press release was distributed to regional newspapers and posted online at TU.org, and was covered as follows:
• An article on Buckrail.com, an online news source based in Jackson, WY. 11/12/21.
• A radio story on BYU-Idaho Radio. 11/15/21.
• A story on Jackson Hole Radio. 11/16/21.
• An article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide. 11/24/21.
• A story on Wyoming Public Media. 12/14/21.
• Several project tours were held in fall 2022 for TU supporters and partners.
• To further highlight the project’s benefits and engage the public, interpretive signage about the project and its partnerships, as well as the importance of the native cutthroat trout fishery in Spread Creek, are being designed. They will be installed across from the irrigation infrastructure at a Bridger-Teton National Forest campsite that overlooks Spread Creek.
• An operations and maintenance plan was developed for the project and transferred to Grand Teton National Park, who will oversee operations and maintenance of the project into the future.
Project Outcomes:
Project implementation was completed in 2022 by Trout Unlimited and key technical partners including Grand Teton National Park, Bridger-Teton National Forest, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The project was a large-scale collaboration that took many partners and volunteers to complete, including five years of coordination, planning and fundraising from 2016 to 2021.
The project goals and objectives were met. The project addressed the fish passage barrier posed by entrainment into the Spread Creek ditches through the installation of the Corrugated Water Screen type fish screen, which now ensures that native fish can migrate the 5 miles from the Spread Creek irrigation diversion down to the Snake River confluence. It stabilized the irrigation diversion, banks, and channel located on 1,250 feet of stream in the project area (on Bridger-Teton National Forest land), thereby improving passage conditions for native fish, increasing instream habitat, and improving water quality. These improvements will also serve to maintain and protect existing infrastructure and minimize future land loss, including the protection of an established Forest Service campsite. 950 willow stakes were planted in the bank stabilization structures. Volunteers assisted with several aspects of the project, including with the fish rescues, willow stake harvesting, project film, and youth education. A project film was produced that is being used for additional outreach and engagement.
Improved connectivity throughout the Spread Creek system is an additional conservation outcome of the project. Over 50 miles of fish habitat – the estimated mileage of Spread Creek and its major tributaries upstream of the Spread Creek diversion site – will benefit from the elimination of entrainment and better habitat utilization. In addition, the Spread Creek project is located on National Forest System lands, and the irrigation infrastructure provides water to public land as well (Grand Teton National Park). It showcases an example of two land management agencies working together to implement best practices for irrigation and natural resources management, and provides a highly visible, publicly accessible demonstration of a fish screen to other water users in the region (in which fish screens are still relatively uncommon) interested in addressing entrainment.
Partners:
• Trout Unlimited
• Grand Teton National Park
• Bridger-Teton National Forest
• Community Foundation of Jackson Hole
• Desert Fish Habitat Partnership
• Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited
• Jackson Hole One Fly
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
• National Forest Foundation
• Patagonia World Trout
• Snake River Fund
• Teton Conservation District
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Fish Passage Program
• Vail Resorts Epic Promise
• WorldCast Anglers
• Wyoming Game and Fish Department
• Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
• Wyoming Water Development Commission
• Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust
• Western Native Trout Initiative
Native Fish Passage in the San Joaquin River, California
A main goal of the SJRRP is to restore fish and flows back to the San Joaquin River above the Merced River confluence to maintain a self-sustaining, naturally reproducing Chinook salmon fishery. One of the initial projects to help the SJRRP achieve this goal is the Eastside Bypass Fish Passage Improvement Project (Project). The Eastside Bypass Control Structure (EBCS) is within the Eastside Bypass and is part of the State’s flood bypass system (see map of the Restoration Area). The EBCS is a partial fish passage barrier. The objectives of the Project include installing a full-width rock ramp roughened channel below the EBCS and modifications to the EBCS to improve fish passage, while retaining its ability to provide flood control. Modifications to the EBCS to provide fish passage include removing a portion of the sill, half of the energy dissipation blocks within the four center bays, and 4-foot-high stop logs on the upstream side of the EBCS. In addition, an approximately 380 foot-long rock ramp will be constructed downstream of the structure to provide suitable passage from the downstream pool to the structure. These elements will allow passage for salmonids and improve passage for other native fish such as sturgeon and lamprey fish to move more easily through the EBCS with minimal impacts to the structure, as well as not require extensive operation or maintenance. Improved passage at the EBCS especially during drought conditions will help rebuild native fish populations in the San Joaquin River.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The population of White Sturgeon occupying the Sacramento-San Joaquin River basin is recreationally fished (bag limit of 3 White Sturgeon per year between 40-60 inches) except for a few reaches. Increasing access to additional spawning and rearing habitat in the upper San Joaquin River will thus enhance the existing White Sturgeon fishery. The proposed project would be constructed on land managed by DWR and would not provide any public access structures. However, construction of the fish passage project at EBCS and improvement projects throughout the Eastside Bypass would allow for release of increased flows upstream and access to higher quality habitat for native fishes in the SJRRP Restoration Area. In this way, the project could aid public access to recreational opportunities. This project will conduct outreach and education to the local and regional community through the following activities: SJRRP biennial Science Meeting presentation (anticipated Fall 2024) which may include participants from the public (the Friant or Fresno community if in-person or the broader public if virtual), water operators and agricultural interests, and tribes; and a featured story in the FWS Pacific Southwest Highlights online. The project will also be chronicled on the SJRRP website.
Project Timeline:
Estimated construction completion in October of 2024
Partners:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
California Department of Water Resources
US Bureau of Reclamation
US Fish and Wildlife Service
National Marine Fisheries Service
The Lower San Joaquin Levee District
The Bay Institute
River Partners
Mid Klamath Tributary, California
This work is seasonal and is not expected nor intended to remain after annual winter flooding, but it is cost-effective and provides immediate results to the fishery. Fish passage problems in the Klamath River watershed include human-influenced barriers, natural barriers, or a combination of both. Most human-caused barriers are the result of road crossings, but swimmer’s dams at popular recreation areas also pose an obstacle to fish passage. Natural barriers include aggraded stream mouths where streams will either run sub-surface or become too shallow for fish to navigate because of large alluvial deltas. This problem has been exacerbated by past upslope disturbances such as wildfires, road failures, and mining, which have increased the sediment load particularly at the mouths of these tributaries.
Chronic low flow conditions increase the impact of seasonal barriers, particularly at aggraded stream mouths. Recent research in the Klamath Basin indicates that both summer and winter refugia associated with the lower reaches of tributaries are critical for the survival of juvenile salmonids. Fisheries surveys have identified consistently high numbers of juvenile salmonids in habitats that function both as summer and winter refugia. The size, distribution, accessibility, and quality of these habitats throughout the year are a major limiting factor for juvenile salmonids in the Klamath River basin. Fish passage improvement at coldwater tributaries will improve the function and capacity of thermal refugia during drought conditions and connect habitats critical to the survival of juvenile and adult salmonids. Maintaining access, improving habitat quality, and increasing capacity of thermal refugia is critical during drought years when lack of access is the difference between life and death for both adult and juvenile salmonids. The objectives of this project are to maintain and improve access to existing salmonid habitat by removing or manipulating seasonal barriers that impede fish passage and to improve connectivity at coldwater refugia sites. This project is designed to ensure both juvenile and adult fish passage into high-quality thermal refugia and spawning habitat during critical periods of rearing and migration.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The community value for at-risk native fish will be enhanced through community volunteerism as well as the involvement of local students. Students from local schools will participate in passage improvement activities in coordination with habitat stewardship projects coordinated by SRRC’s Watershed Education program and MKWC’s youth programs. Since 2017 high school students from Scott Valley have participated in fish passage improvement work through their enrollment in the Youth Environmental Summer Studies (YESS) program, and collaboration with the YESS program is expected to continue. MKWC staff accompany the local outdoor school on an annual raft trip, training local youth in fish identification and ecology, and guiding them in fish passage improvement work at several creeks along the reach. MKWC typically employs up to six restoration interns (ages 16-21) who spend approximately 25% of their six-week internship working with experienced fisheries technicians on the fish passage improvement project. MKWC and SRRC staff also recruit local volunteers throughout the season to assist with the project. Involvement of the local community is intended to strengthen the lasting impact of this project, restoring the ecological process over the long term. Community participation will be recorded using SRRC’s events management database. Volunteer workdays associated with this project will be advertised on SRRC’s monthly calendar which is e-mailed out to a list of approximately 1000 interested individuals, community 12 members, students, and organizations. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, some volunteer events are uncertain at this point in time, but the outdoor nature of the work makes it likely that volunteer involvement will be possible. SRRC and MKWC will also provide education and assistance to landowners regarding the maintenance of habitat enhancement projects adjacent to private property and will install informational signs at popular swimming holes and river access points to highlight our projects and educate the public on fish passage and fish health issues in the Klamath and Salmon Rivers. Further information about SRRC and MKWC projects, including fish passage improvement is available to the public on the SRRC and MKWC websites.
Project Timeline:
Implementation will take place during the 2023 or 2024 summer field season, anticipated completion no later than September 2024.
Partners:
California Fish Habitat Partnership
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
US Forest Service
Mid Klamath Watershed Council (MKWC)
Matheson Wetland, Utah
A stretch of 64 miles of the Colorado River between Moab and the confluence with the Green River has been identified as a priority reach for recovery of Razorback Sucker. The Matheson Preserve is the only site within this reach capable of providing suitable nursery habitat as identified in recovery goals. However, the Matheson Preserves’ current value to razorback recovery limited by an abundance of non-native fishes and reduced frequency and duration of flood events.
Competition and predation by non-native fishes are linked to reduced survival and growth rates of stocked Razorback Sucker larvae in wetlands, potentially resulting in total mortality. However, experimental survival rates of Razorback Sucker larvae in ‘reset’ floodplains (i.e. those free of non-native fishes at entrainment) are thought adequate to sustain populations and age-zero Razorback Sucker in floodplain environments outgrow predation risk from non-native fish spawned in the same year. Thus, a combination of ‘reset’ conditions and exclusion of all but larval non-native fishes during inundation should contribute to optimal Razorback Sucker survival.
In recent years, overbank flows of the Matheson Preserve occur infrequently; approximately once each decade. Discrete portions such as the Central Pond, however, achieve connection through gated canals at lower flows. In light of the recently documented presence of wild Razorback Sucker larvae at the mouth of the Central Pond inlet, the Central Pond was modified to achieve inundation in three of every five years and to drain completely (i.e. achieve ‘reset’ conditions) and concurrently integrate a redundant fish exclusion apparatus and improved head gate for water level management. Additional water sources to maintain adequate levels in the entrainment area are diverted to entrainment area from naturally occurring springs located on the north-west end of the preserve. We believe that management of the Central Pond with this suite of features can contribute significantly to the recovery of Razorback Sucker.
This project provides a functional, floodplain wetland that offers Razorback Sucker, as well as other native fish including Bluehead Sucker, Flannelmouth Sucker, Roundtail Chub, and Bonytail Chub, suitable nursery habitat during spring flooding, as well as offering other ecological benefits to the Matheson Preserve. Floodplain connectivity has been restored in a variety of flow scenarios, entrainment of wild Razorback Suckers into the Central Pond has been documented, large bodied non-native fish are excluded, water quality and quantity is maintained for sufficient amounts of time post-entrainment to ensure survivability and growth of larval Razorback Sucker, and juveniles were successfully released back into the Colorado River.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Scott and Norma Matheson Wetlands Preserve in Moab, Utah, is an oasis in the desert—a stark contrast to the surrounding redrock cliffs and arid desert. This lush oasis attracts more than 200 species of birds, amphibians—including the northern leopard frog—and aquatic mammals such as the beaver, muskrat and elusive river otter. The Matheson Wetlands – a refuge for both nature and people—is the result of a community effort. In 1990, the land was at risk of being developed, but The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources were able to step in. The Preserve’s 900 acres makes it the largest wetland complex on the Colorado River in Utah. TNC and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources jointly own and manage it. The rarity of the wetland ecosystem in an arid environment, coupled with the area’s diversity that attracts a wide variety of wildlife species and the utilization of the wetlands by migratory birds, were the main reasons The Nature Conservancy became involved with the Moab Sloughs. Though many people visit the preserve to bird watch, others come to enjoy the sounds and sights of nature. School groups also visit the preserve to study wetlands and the creatures that inhabit these wetlands. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has conducted a mist-netting program to analyze bird usage in the preserve. Other studies have looked at population trends of northern leopard frogs, waterfowl and breeding birds.
The Matheson Wetland Preserve is also considered an outdoor classroom.
Located near Moab, Utah, several teachers bring their students to the Matheson Preserve, particularly fourth-grade students who visit the preserve during August or September to do hands-on science activities that align with Utah’s core science curriculum. This curriculum includes the study of wetlands. The Matheson is also used as an outdoor classroom for local groups such as the Girl Scouts of the USA. In May, for International Migratory Bird Day, there is a public event held on the preserve where local fisheries experts for the DWR discuss the endangered species of the Colorado River and the ongoing project.
Project Timeline:
The feasibility study of this project was completed in 2017. In 2019, the Central Pond water control structure and backwater channel were installed. Diversions structures and pipes were installed from the Watercress Spring (2020) and Mill Creek (2021-2022) to provide backup water sources to maintain water levels for native fish larvae during crucial summer months. The Central Pond was expanded in 2020-2021 by dredging out a deeper portion that will provide adequate water for fish until October for optimal survival.
In the spring of 2019, larval Razorback Sucker were spotted in the Colorado River adjacent to the wetlands and were successfully entrained into the Matheson Preserve via the partially completed backwater channel. In the fall of 2021, the first juvenile Razorback Suckers that reared in the Matheson Preserve were successfully released back into the Colorado River.
Partners:
This project was funded or supported by the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Endangered Species Mitigation Fund, Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative, Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, the Colorado River Recovery Program, an Enterprise Grant, Utah Division of Water Rights, USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Natural Recourse Conservation Service, Moab Area Watershed Partnership, Utah Division of Water Quality, Bureau of Reclamation, Jones and Demille Engineering, and Bliesner Keller Engineering.
Select media resources about the project:
Lower Heʻeia Watershed, Oahu, Hawaiʻi (2015 Retrospective Project)
This is a community-based aquatic habitat restoration project to remove invasive vegetation, remove non-structural barriers to migratory fish, and restore native riparian vegetation. The project will also restore local hydrological conditions in adjacent waterways that are important for traditional Hawaiian agricultural practices.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The aquatic ecosystems within the Lower Heʻeia Watershed once supported abundant fishery resources and over 200 acres of wetland and riparian agriculture. Restoration of stream, estuarine and coastal fisheries, and re-establishment of traditional Hawaiian agricultural practices throughout the project area, are important components of the Lower Heʻeia Watershed project.
Project Timeline: Seven projects supported between 2009-2022, combined total over $465,000 in federal assistance funds administered through the Hawaiʻi FHP.
Partners:
The Nature Conservancy – Hawaiʻi Marine Program
Hui O Koʻolaupoko (community non-profit organization)
Kakoʻo ʻOiwi (community non-profit organization)
Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve
Hawaiʻi DLNR – Division of State Parks
Retrospective Selection
The Lower Heʻeia Watershed is located on windward Oahu and includes the lower reaches of Heʻeia Stream, several small tributaries, the stream-mouth estuary, and adjacent coral reef habitat within Kaneohe Bay. The Lower Heʻeia Stream Project was selected as a 2015 Water to Watch.
Starting with a Community Conservation Plan in 2009, the Hawaiʻi FHP collaborated with local conservation groups to provide seven finanical assistance awards totaling over $465,000 for technical assistance and on-the-ground aquatic habitat restoration at multiple locations within the Lower Heʻeia Watershed. Federal assistance funds administered through the Hawaii FHP originated from the National Fish Habitat Partnership, the FWS National Fish Passage Program, and the FWS Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation Habitat Program funds. Funding provided by the Hawaii FHP was highly leveraged with concurrent federal grants from other agencies and non-federal matching funds.
The Lower Heʻeia Watershed is included within the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). The Heʻeia NERR was established in 2017 and is the most recent addition to the National Estuarine Research Reserve system. The designation includes wetlands adjacent to Heʻeia stream and coral reefs extending into Kaneohe Bay. The NERR was established as a result of a multi-year collaboration by partners representing land managers from non-profit organizations, State and federal agencies, University of Hawaii researchers, native Hawaiian organizations, and the local community.
Restoration activities in the Lower Heʻeia Watershed supported by the Hawaiʻi FHP include:
• Community Conservation Action Plan development
• Flood stage inundation mapping
• Stream channel restoration
• Invasive vegetation removal
• Removal of non-structural barriers to enhance fish passage
• Estuary shoreline restoration
• Native plant restoration
• Monitoring and assessment of native fish and aquatic invertebrates
• Biological community composition assessment using eDNA
Island Park Reservoir, Idaho
Island Park Reservoir is a beautiful, 8,000-acre mountain reservoir in the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that contains once-productive fisheries for kokanee salmon, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, brook trout, and mountain whitefish. These economically valuable fisheries have deteriorated due to high annual drawdowns in recent decades. Island Park Reservoir’s annual drawdowns are more extreme in drought years when water supply from winter snowpack is proportionally less than summer demand for irrigation downstream.
The RFHP funded crucial scientific projects which discovered that high drawdown increases Island Park Reservoir’s water temperatures and decreases dissolved oxygen concentrations. Hot surface water temperatures and a deep oxygen “dead zone” create a deadly habitat squeeze for Island Park Reservoir’s salmon and trout. The loss of habitat due to drawdown reduces fish populations in Island Park Reservoir.
Reducing the annual drawdown of Island Park Reservoir is a difficult proposition. Water from Island Park Reservoir helps irrigate one of the most valuable agricultural regions in the United States, the vast Snake River Plain, and farmers hold all rights to the water stored in the reservoir. Thankfully, with funding from the RFHP and with additional funding and partnership with the US Bureau of Reclamation, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Fremont-Madison Irrigation District, and private landowners, the non-profit Henry’s Fork Foundation has implemented a huge collaborative water-saving program with two primary components: “Farms and Fish” and “Precision Water Management”. These programs work at scales from individual irrigators up to the entire 250,000-acre irrigation district to implement precision management projects based on increasing efficiency at the farm field level and managing water carefully at the district level, thereby reducing irrigation demand and overall Island Park Reservoir drawdown while simultaneously meeting on-farm goals. The Farms and Fish program has helped reduce annual Island Park Reservoir drawdown by nearly 20%, improving fish abundance by over 150% compared to years without water conservation.
Finally, detailed scientific information funded by the RFHP will support additional, durable measures to conserve fisheries resources for decades into the future. For example, scientific study on Island Park Reservoir discovered the conservation potential of complex infrastructure projects such as hypolimnetic oxygenation. Oxygenating the cold, deep “dead zone” in Island Park Reservoir could insulate fish habitat from drawdown and improve downstream water quality in the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. Island Park Reservoir’s fisheries are in good hands because of RFHP funding.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Past, current, and future projects funded by the RFHP on Island Park Reservoir are win-win programs that benefit recreational and agricultural users alike. For recreational users, RFHP-funded programs are helping Island Park Reservoir and its tributaries meet management priorities defined by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. These management priorities are restoring the fishery to its former status as well as reducing the impact of an increasing frequency of droughts that cause excessive drawdown. Island Park Reservoir and its main tributary, the Henrys Fork River, are popular recreational angling locations, especially for families, helping make the Henrys Fork the most popular fishery in Fremont County and supporting a local fishing-based economy worth around $30 million (Grunder et al. 2008, Loomis 2006). The fishery has declined since the 1980s when Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) data indicates it was a fishery of significant state interest and likely greater economic impact due to good catches of large rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii spp.), and kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) (High et al. 2015, Flinders et al. 2016). Funding from the RFHP has reduced drawdown even in extreme drought years, ensuring that Island Park Reservoir is well on its way to returning to its former status as a fishery of significant state interest.
The Farms and Fish program also benefits agricultural producers. Funding from the RFHP helped install Software Advisor Packages placed on center pivots with one or more farmers to apply irrigation water and maintain soil moisture for plant growth efficiently and uniformly. This software enhancement uses soil-water balance irrigation concepts and methods, along with crop growth models, as-applied irrigation data and hyper-local, field-specific weather data to generate the data needed to make more informed irrigation decisions. Initial estimates provided by center pivot irrigation manufactures clinical trials suggest a 25 to 50 acre-feet savings per center pivot. An obtainable goal of 5 center pivots in the Henry’s Fork Watershed would result in a possible 750 acre-feet savings in drawdown from Island Park Reservoir, while also improving efficiency and yields for agricultural producers. The Farms and Fish program upends the traditional adversarial relationship between agriculture and coldwater fisheries resources and replaces it with collaboration and cooperation with durable win-win solutions.
Partners:
• Utah State University Department of Watershed Science (USU)
• United States Geological Survey Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (USGS CFWRU)
• Idaho Department of Fish and Game—Upper Snake Region (IDFG)
• Western Division of the American Fisheries Society (WDAFS)
• Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ)
• US Bureau of Reclamation (USBOR)
• Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative (FRREC)
• Fremont-Madison Irrigation District (FMID)
• Private Landowners
Galena River Watershed, Illinois
Building on relationships established through a 2-year county-wide water resource management planning effort and coordinating with and feeding into a parallel IEPA-supported Galena River Watershed planning process, the group organized 12 workshops and facilitated discussions to establish broad consensus and active participation in the watershed. During the pandemic, the group even learned how to do PowerPoints, webinars and took video in their fields so they could do on-line field tours of their farming practices. Members of the group and partners are sampling tributaries to the Galena River to determine contaminant sources for educational purposes and to inform the strategic placement of best management practices such as no-till, cover crops, prairie strips, riparian buffers, stream bank stabilization, and managed grazing. Galena or Fever River is considered a cool-cold or cool-warm stream that has smallmouth bass. The smallmouth bass distribution is expected to expand in the coming years due to warming stream temperatures.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Galena IL is a small (pop. 3,300) historic community that attracts more than a million visitors each year. Boating, canoeing, kayaking, board paddling, and fishing are among the activities enjoyed by both residents and visitors. The City of Galena created a boat ramp and has plans to install a canoe launch area. Fever River Outfitters, a private operation, offers canoes, kayaks and paddle boards for rent. The Galena Boat Club uses the river. The high school has a smallmouth bass fishing club.
The idea of creating a farmer-led group was first floated by Galena, IL resident Beth Baranski, who had an interest in local land and water issues. The Galena group expanded countywide as the Jo Daviess County Soil & Water Health Coalition, a circle of friendship and a public forum chaired by farmer, Mel Gratton. Farmers in the group, like Greg Thoren, share decades of knowledge about soil health. Fishers & Farmers created a podcast on their website where you can meet Greg Thoren and the group’s organizing secretary, Beth Baranski, who are building connection and watching a northern Illinois community come alive with interest in its land and streams.
Project Timeline: Project was funded by Fishers & Farmers in 2017 and completed in 2019. Farmers are still collaborating on improving practices to improve soil health, water quality and fish habitat.
Partners: Jo Daviess County Soil & Water Health Coalition, Farmers, League of Women Voters of Illinois, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, City of Galena, Illinois Extension, Jo Daviess County Soil & Water Conservation District, Farm Bureau, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Fishers & Farmers Partnership.
Finn Rock Run, Oregon
Pacific Lamprey were once abundant and widespread in streams and rivers throughout the West Coast, but their populations have declined significantly throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California. Losses since European colonization have been driven largely by human impacts to water quality, passage barriers, and ocean conditions due to climate change. Degradation of streams and floodplains is recognized by the Conservation Agreement of the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative (PLCI) as a top threat to Pacific Lamprey. Restoration of critical spawning and rearing habitats for the species aligns with PLCI objectives and also benefits many native salmonid species.
The Finn Rock Reach Floodplain Restoration Project will provide floodplain reconnection and habitat restoration to 85 acres on a side channel of the McKenzie River, near the community of Blue River, Lane County once completed. Large gravel pits and access roads have channelized a side channel and cut off access to rearing habitat for lamprey, Upper Willamette River spring Chinook Salmon, Rainbow Trout, and other species. The project will restore natural ecological processes that maintain low flow, depositional conditions required by Pacific Lamprey and other native species by redistributing 224, 000 cubic yards of floodplain sediment, aggrading incised side channels, placing 2,300 pieces of large woody debris over 85 acres and 0.8 miles of side channel length, and conducting restoration plantings.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Pacific Lamprey are ecological and cultural keystones for the West Coast and its Indigenous people. The Finn River Rock Restoration Project is the result of a multi-partner collaboration of tribal, local, state, federal, non-profit, and academic stakeholders working to conserve and reinforce Pacific Lamprey populations in the Columbia River Basin. Dams and other human made barriers to upstream passage have contributed to severe declines in upstream populations throughout the Columbia River Basin. Maintaining, enhancing, and restoring rearing habitats below large barriers is critical in conserving and bolstering Pacific Lamprey populations in areas with greatest habitat connectivity.
Project Timeline: January 2019 to March 2023
Partners:
The McKenzie Watershed Council (MWC) and United States Forest Service (USFS) are major collaborators on this project. USFS has provided in-kind support for the design, providing bathymetry and geomorphic grade line analysis, design drawings, cut and fill estimations, and field verification of data. The project has also been supported by a Technical Advisory Group composed of: USFS, MWC, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy, and the University of Oregon Geography Department.
Other support includes:
The McKenzie River Trust (MRT) has entered an MOU with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which allows for the use of BLM trees for LWD and plantings.
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians is receiving a donation of LWD from the USFS, which they, in turn, are donating to the project.
The Eugene Water and Electric Board provided $500,000 to the restoration project through MRT’s Homewaters Campaign, which raised an additional $250,000 in restoration funding.
Annette Island, Metlakatla Indian Community
This project will utilize NFHP funding to support engineering designs for 2 culverts that currently restrict fish passage for Coastal cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden Char, Coho Salmon, and Pink Salmon on Graveyard Creek, located on Annette Islands Reserve. This is the only Native American reservation in the State of Alaska and is home to the village of Metlakatla and the Metlakatla Indian Community (MIC) who rely on local salmon stocks for their robust commercial fishing industry and for subsistence harvest. This project will produce shovel ready engineers designs that will be used to leverage future Infrastructure BIL funding for implementation. Additionally, this project helps set the stage for building local technical expertise and capacity to address fish passage needs across Annette Island through a new partnership between the MIC, Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Metlakatla Indian Community (MIC) relies heavily on culturally-significant subsistence fish resources. The primary industry available to MIC is commercial fishing, and as a result, the majority of families rely on income from fishing to support themselves financially. MIC Department of Fish and Wildlife (MIC-DFW) operates the largest tribally-managed fishery in the United States. MIC manages commercial fisheries for salmon, halibut, sea cucumber, geoduck, and herring. The commercial salmon fisheries around Annette Islands Reserve are some of the most valuable in Southeast Alaska and preserving and restoring in-stream habitat is a priority to maintaining these fish stocks. Tribal residents of Annette Island also rely heavily on aquatic subsistence resources for sustaining their families as well as supporting their important cultural practices.
This project will help address two culverts that currently pose fish passage barriers to resident and anadromous fishes on Graveyard Creek. The existing culverts are undersized, ageing, and pose velocity and leap barriers at certain flows. The existing culverts are also at risk of failure during future flood events due to being undersized relative to increasing stream flows. Rivers supporting Pacific Salmon in Southeast Alaska are predicted to experience warmer, wetter conditions that will result in increased mean annual flood sizes of up to 28% by the late-21st century (Sloat and Reeves 2016). Increased flood intensity is anticipated to continue and result in a net loss of spawning habitat, reduce survivorship and incubation of juvenile salmon, and pose failure risk to undersized and ageing infrastructure.
This project will secure shovel ready engineers designs for these culverts and are already leveraging future funding for MIC to implement the removal and replacement of these structures with fully passable culverts that meet current fish passage standards. Restoring passage at these sites will reopen a total of 1.4 miles of upstream habitat and allow bidirectional access as needed for spawning, overwintering, and accessing feeding habitat, thermal refugia for resident and anadromous fishes securing future fishing opportunities for the residents of Annette Island.
Project Timeline:
Summer 2023: Cooperative agreement formed between MIC, SAWC and USFWS
Fall 2023: Watershed Plan for Annette Islands Reserve will be completed, contractors hired to begin culvert replacement designs for two sites on Graveyard Creek and future funding secured for implementation of culvert replacements (*currently funding has been secured from USFWS BIL fish passage funding and Federal Highway BIL fish passage funding sources).
Summer 2024: Replacement designs complete; implementation efforts will begin pending construction award processes.
Partners:
Metlakatla Indian Community
Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Williamsburg Off-Channel Wetland, Ohio
Harsha Lake is a drinking water source for +100,000 residents and serves as a $1.6 million regional hub for outdoor recreation. HABs have led to increased water treatment costs, public health advisories, beach closures, and event cancellations.
The Williamsburg Off-Channel Wetland utilizes an existing 3-acre reservoir located in the Village of Williamsburg. The reservoir was formerly connected to a low-head dam on the EFLMR; the dam was removed, and the reservoir was drained in 2018.The former reservoir is adjacent to the East Fork of the Little Miami River. Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling served as the basis for the floodplain wetland complex design. The preliminary project scope entails improving the connectivity of the river and floodplain by creating a gravity-connected inflow and outflow channel that will be cut through the existing berm in two locations. As originally planned, this improved connectivity would provide important spawning and nursery habitat for fish and other aquatic life.
Water quality monitoring is a significant component of this project. A key outcome of this work will be an assessment of the nutrient removal efficiency of the constructed wetland. Clermont OEQ works regularly with regional partners to manage a robust water quality sampling program for the EFLMR watershed, including an agricultural wetland demonstration project funded through a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) (2012). The wetland was designed as a linear submerged vegetative bed with the capacity to treat sediment and nutrient runoff from 80 acres of surrounding row-crop fields. Clermont OEQ’s water quality analysis of the CIG project site has shown an approximate 30% removal efficiency for sediment and nutrient removal. Due to the proximity of the Williamsburg project site to the EFLMR and opportunities to improve storage capacity with additional excavation, project partners estimate a 40-50% reduction in the nutrient and sediment loading entering the system.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Water quality improvement for the potable water supply for >100,000 southwest Ohio residents and an improved aquatic recreation experience for a high-use reservoir.
Project Timeline:
Project completion is scheduled for 9/30/22
Partners:
USFWS Fish Passage Program
U.S. EPA
Clermont Office of Environmental Quality
Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District
Ohio DNR H2Ohio
Village of Williamsburg
Buckeye United Fly Fishers
Bethel Boy Scouts
Duke Energy Foundation
Wildcat Creek, California
The fish passage structure slated to be remediated through this project was developed for adult steelhead and rainbow trout is subject to clogging with sediment and debris which further adversely affects the passability of this structure. Remediating this barrier will result in the restoration of 1.125 stream miles and 13 acres of habitat helping to reconnect the headwaters of Wildcat Creek with San Francisco Bay and provide additional spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead and other anadromous fish, and potentially restore steelhead in the creek. This project will develop final designs for the fish passage facility and obtain the permits necessary to reevaluate the USACE/NHC design to enable the project to move forward. The California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) supports the project and has committed the remaining funding needed for the 100% designs.
Led by the Watershed Project, Trout Unlimited and FlowWest, the project will involve coordination amongst USACE, CDWR, and the Contra Costa Flood Control and Water Conservation District in developing and permitting an effective replacement fish passage facility. This project leverages funding from the CDWR Urban Stream Restoration Program and the California Fish Passage Forum. Community outreach and education is a critical element in the success of this project.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Located in a disadvantaged community, the remediation of this fish passage barrier has already garnered considerable public support. The community is also simultaneously undertaking a stream trail enhancement effort on Wildcat Creek that increases access, awareness, and understanding of the issues addressed by remediating the fish passage barrier. In a recent outreach effort to determine community spending priorities on water-related projects, 65% of North Richmond community members described the fish ladder retrofit as “definitely needed” or “most urgently needed”. Nearly half of community members listed the fish passage project as being one of their top five most important projects in North Richmond. Community members value habitat restoration projects that provide benefits to wildlife but have also expressed a strong desire for community education to accompany such projects, especially programs designed to introduce children to new experiences and knowledge.
Based on this feedback and recognizing that community outreach and education is a critical elements in the success of this project, associated outreach deliverables include K-12 educational programming development of a children’s storybook specific to this project and that will be available in print and digital formats, a community facing web page, and presentations at community meetings.
To develop the K-12 educational programming, the Watershed Project will partner with teachers from at least one of the nearby elementary schools to deliver their “Me & My Watershed: Creekside Program”. Through this eight-lesson curriculum, students will gain a foundational understanding of what a watershed is, how they are connected to the local watershed and the importance of creek health. The format of lessons will be flexible, dependent on any applicable COVID-19 restrictions, and may include a combination of live video lessons, online student-directed assignments, and physical curriculum kits, including handouts and other materials. In accordance with school district health guidelines, programming will include socially-distant in-person lessons outdoors and a visit to the fish passage facility.
The children’s storybook developed through this project will be a collaboration of local artists, indigenous community leaders, and other partners. Appropriate for ages nine and up, the storybook will illustrate the importance of connectivity in the context of the overall watershed, how stream conditions change from the headwaters to the bay, and what they hope to accomplish by retrofitting the fish passage barrier. A print-friendly version of the book will be available at no cost on the project’s website.
Upon completion of design plans for the fish passage remediation, the Watershed Project and FlowWest will present information about the project and design plans to community members and stakeholders at 2-3 community meetings.
Project Timeline:
January 2022 – December 2023
Partners:
The Watershed Project (lead)
Trout Unlimited
FlowWest Consultants
Contra Costa Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Trout Unlimited
FlowWest Consultants
Wildcat-San Pablo Creeks Watershed Council
California Department of Water Resources
Upper White River, Vermont
Historic land use practices have resulted in a mixed-age, but still relatively young, forest throughout the project area and most of New England. Felling trees into the stream at a rate of 170-210 pieces of large wood per mile (Nislow et al., 2003) replicates and restores natural woody habitat recruitment that would exist in a mature old-growth forested watershed. Reintroducing large wood habitat provides myriad benefits to brook trout, their resilience to catastrophic events, and the forest-stream ecosystem as a whole. This project will restore and enhance brook trout habitat by increasing the amount of large woody material in the stream channel and along the banks. Increasing large wood in the channel improves sediment retention and sorting and creates diverse instream habitats, such as step-pool complexes, particularly in smaller 1st and 2nd order streams (Naiman et al., 2002). It has been shown to increase brook trout size and abundance (Kratzer, 2018).
The project catchments are generally degraded because of historic land use and forest management practices that continue to affect the forest and stream systems. Because New England was deforested in the pre-industrial era, much of the current forest stands throughout the region are limited to 100-130 years old – not old enough to have substantial natural recruitment of large wood from the surrounding riparian area. Historic forest and stream management also dictated that wood was also removed for the safety of downstream communities. However, this lack of large wood has led to headwater streams that are shallow, wide, incised, and have monotonous riffle-run habitat for fish. Finer sediments are washed through the system rapidly, and nutrients within the water column have no biotic material to assist with nutrient cycling and uptake. This project addresses all these problems by reintroducing large woody material in quantities that the US Forest Service has modeled to be similar to historic old-growth forests (Nislow, 2003), essentially mimicking historic conditions which will, in turn, assist natural processes and large wood recruitment within the system.
This project also helps address climate change impacts on brook trout. By increasing large woody material, we increase deep scour pools and cover directly over the stream channel. Scour pools stay colder longer into the summer, providing thermal refuge for brook trout during the hottest months, and may increase groundwater inputs into the stream channel, which protects the stream temperature from sudden fluctuations in air temperature. Increased large woody material in the channel and banks also increases stream roughness, which helps to slow water down and push water out onto the floodplain, dissipating the velocity and attenuating the overall flood peak downstream.
This project is related to a prior Waters to Watch project on the White River, funded with an EBTJV-NFHAP award in FY2013 to the White River Partnership (link to completion report). The prior WtW project addressed flood- and flood recovery-related habitat modifications on four tributaries to the Upper White River in Rochester, Vermont, following tropical storm Irene by utilizing active instream management and design, establishing riparian buffers, and removing barriers to fish passage. The lead organization, strategies, and specific locations differed between the 2013 and 2020 projects; however, there are expected related benefits because both projects are in the White River watershed and have a shared goal of goal to maintain healthy, sustainable brook trout populations.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The project should improve recreational fishing opportunities for wild brook trout. Large in-stream wood has been shown to increase the size and abundance of brook trout, particularly in scour pools and under protective large woody material. Much of the project area is accessible by trail or near parking areas, facilitating angler access to the improved habitat and brook trout populations.
This project, and in-stream woody habitat projects as a whole, have an excellent cost-benefit ratio. For $15,000 per mile of habitat improvement, there is a 150-300% improvement in wild brook trout population within an overall more resilient stream system. The benefits only improve as the project reach increases. Increased habitat capacity for larger and more abundant brook trout populations in headwater streams with direct access to larger rivers such as the White River will help provide larger wild brook trout and potentially reduce the future need for stocking hatchery-raised trout.
Erin Rodgers, PhD, gave a presentation about strategic wood addition at the 2022 EBTJV annual meeting. The presentation, available on YouTube, gives a very clear explanation for how wood addition helps habitat for brook trout in New England streams, as well as co-benefits for humans and other species. Link: https://youtu.be/ImSsyw4qfoA
Literature Cited
• Kratzer, J.F., 2018. Response of Brook Trout Biomass to Strategic Wood Additions in the East Branch Nulhegan River Watershed, Vermont. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, DOI: 10.1002/nafm.10241
• Naiman, R.J., Balian, E.V., Bartz, K.K., Bilby, R.E., Latterell, J.J., 2002. Dead Wood Dynamics in Stream Systems. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-181. Nislow, K.M., 2003. LWD Recruitment Model for New England Streams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries Science. 12(2): 50-110.
• The Robinson Integrated Resource Project Area Assessment and Review can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=48884
Project Timeline (FY20 project):
From 2019-2021 Trout Unlimited completed about 2.75 miles of wood installation in Upper White River tributaries (see map below). In 2021 partners had originally scheduled three weeks of large wood habitat work in the upper White River watershed on USFS lands. Unfortunately, one of those weeks had to be canceled due to inclement weather from the remnants of a hurricane. In those two weeks, they were able to complete in-stream woody habitat restoration on 1.25mi of Corporation Brook. They also completed some follow-up monitoring on a section of Corporation and Tunnel Brooks in 2021. They anticipate completing the proposed restoration mileage by the end of the 2022 field season and continuing post-project monitoring.
Follow-up monitoring will occur from 2-4 years out and includes large wood retention and recruitment in the system, brook trout biomass and abundance, and changes to in-stream habitat diversity.
Partners:
Trout Unlimited (lead)
US Forest Service
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Davis Foundation
Tincup Creek, Idaho
In addition, at least three other aquatic or semiaquatic species of interest are present, including a native pilose crayfish, western pearl shell mussel, and a unique clade of boreal toads. These are all native species with a special management emphasis. Because of the assemblage of these native species and the degraded yet recoverable nature of the system, Trout Unlimited (TU) and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF) chose to focus their efforts here.
The primary cause for the degraded state of the stream has been linked to aerial spraying of willows in 1956, which precipitated the subsequent unraveling of the stream system. The project accomplished a long-term vision of restoration for YCT and other native species by focusing on restoring channel and floodplain function and processes. Primary restoration methods included restoring eroding meander bends using bioengineering techniques, reconnecting old meanders, and raising riffle elevations.
The project was not designed to stabilize the stream in place but rather to re-elevate it to restore the functions and processes that make for healthy habitats, floodplains, and riparian zones. By focusing on restoring floodplain connectivity, proper channel dimensions, and old meanders using native willows and sod as well as imported wood, the habitat for native species was improved.
Total project outcomes (2017-2020):
• 4.5 miles of stream were restored
• 23,350 feet of channel were treated.
• 10 historic meander bends were reconnected for a total of 5,140 feet in increased stream length.
• 500 trees with large root wads were placed.
• 88 riparian and wetland acres were improved.
• 5,680 feet of fencing and a cattle guard were installed, and cross-fences were improved.
• 546 volunteer hours were contributed to the project by 3 TU chapters.
• 17 agency, nonprofit, and foundation partners were involved in the success of the project.
• A project video was created and distributed widely, including online and at the American Fisheries Society meeting in 2019.
• Four press releases were distributed and were covered in at least eight media articles.
• Interns from BYU Idaho were involved in mussel surveys for the project.
• The project received an award for Partnerships and Volunteerism from the Intermountain Region of the US Forest Service in 2019.
• A three-panel interpretive signage display was installed overlooking the project area.
Many benefits are expected from the completion of the project, including a healthier floodplain and riparian area – with a shift toward more mesic species in the floodplain as overland flow increases, especially in the spring. Beaver populations and dams are expected to increase as runoff forces are better dissipated on the floodplain instead of staying in-channel. Habitat diversity and complexity are expected to increase with more rearing and hiding cover available to different life stages and different fishes. Northern Leatherside chubs are expected to increase in population density due to greater habitat complexity and beaver activity (especially in the upper reaches of the project area). The sediment load in the system will decrease due to the treatment of eroding banks. Sediment deposition will also decrease as the channel is narrowed and fines are more easily transported down the system. These improvements should result in higher reproductive success and recruitment, with surges expected in the population densities of all native fishes. Most of all, project partners expect to see a healthy and functioning riparian system that continues to improve through time.
The total project contributions by all partners over the project’s four years, both cash and in kind, was $654,107. (Agency costs are likely underrepresented – the project had significant design-build savings by performing the work in-house.)
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Tincup Creek in Bonneville and Caribou Counties is 37.0 miles in length and flows from an elevation of 9,076 to 5,741 feet. This high elevation stream historically provided locals and visitors with excellent fishing opportunities. By restoring Tincup Creek to its natural, historic state, visitors and locals alike are able to once again enjoy the beauty of a healthy stream filled with fishable fish populations.
In addition to the habitat work, the Western Native Trout Initiative and Desert Fish Habitat Partnership co-funded a three-panel interpretive signage display at the project site, and Trout Unlimited and the US Forest Service produced a film called Together – Tincup Creek, Idaho, about the project.
Throughout the years, the awe-inspiring majesty of many of the United States western waters have been reduced through the damning of rivers and the creation of cities and towns as our population across the country has grown. While the convenience of better jobs, shorter commutes, and access to a plethora of dining and shopping venues are wonderful, the downside is the diminishing appreciation and use of our country’s federal and state lands for hunting, fishing, and general leisure activities. There are now few who regularly enjoy a backdrop as unique and beautiful as the one found at Tincup Creek.
Project Timeline:
The project was completed over a four-year time frame, starting in August 2017 and completing in 2020.
Partners:
• Western Native Trout Initiative
• Desert Fish Habitat Partnership
• Trout Unlimited
• U.S. Forest Service: Caribou-Targhee National Forest
• Idaho Department of Fish and Game
• Idaho Department of Transportation
• Caribou County Road and Bridge
• Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
• National Forest Foundation
• Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited
• Jackson Hole One Fly
• Snake River Cutthroats Trout Unlimited
• Star Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited
• Agrium and Bear Lakes Grazing Association
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Susitna River Drainage, Alaska
Pacific Lamprey is a species of conservation concern in North America and is of particular interest in Alaska because this region marks the northern extent of its range. While the Susitna River drainage, a 504-km glacial river that discharges into Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Alaska, is the northernmost river system that is known to support a spawning population of Pacific Lamprey (Mecklenburg et al. 2002), the status and distribution of Pacific Lamprey populations is poorly documented, including the lower Susitna River tributaries where Pacific Lamprey have been reported to spawn as adults and rear as larvae. To address this data deficiency, with funding from PLCI/NFHP and USFWS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and partners (including the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Knik Tribe, and Susitna River Coalition) will assess the distribution and relative abundance of larval and adult Pacific Lamprey at multiple sites within the Susitna River Basin. This effort includes an examination of the rearing (larval) and spawning (adult) habitat use attributes of Pacific Lamprey, a determination of the size and age structure of larval and adult Pacific Lamprey, and use eDNA from collected water samples to detect the presence of Pacific Lamprey.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
While there are reports of historically abundant lamprey populations by tribal communities in the region, there is little information or understanding as to why the lamprey populations appear to have declined. Due to the absence of subsistence and commercial fisheries for Pacific Lamprey in Alaska, this species has not been a management priority. As a result, limited monitoring and survey efforts have only recently (June 2019) been initiated in Susitna River tributaries. To date, there have been no comprehensive larval or adult Pacific Lamprey surveys conducted in the Alaska Regional Management Unit, making this effort a key step to improving baseline knowledge and ultimately addressing these declines.
The integration of Pacific Lamprey, and other native lamprey species, into conservation actions and restoration activities, has been identified as a top priority of PLCI – specifically of the Restoration Subgroup to the Lamprey Technical Workgroup. Although some populations are more vulnerable than others, Pacific Lamprey is increasingly at risk under high greenhouse gas scenarios. Without knowing more about their presence in the region, and in Alaska in particular, where the climate is changing especially quickly, impacts of climate change cannot be assessed or addressed. This adds increased importance to this work as biologists and resource managers work to better conserve and restore this species and will hopefully lead to similar efforts in other parts of the state.
Project Timeline:
June – July 2022 – Sampling efforts for larval and spawning adult Pacific Lamprey
June – July 2023 - Sampling efforts for larval and spawning adult Pacific Lamprey
Partners:
University of Alaska Fairbanks (project lead)
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
Knik Tribe
Susitna River Coalition
Raystown Lake, Pennsylvania
Eroded shorelines have resulted in creation of mudflats, increased turbidity, declining littoral habitat and impaired bank access for anglers. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) received $1.15 million in mitigation funds earmarked to address the shoreline erosion issues on Raystown. PFBC has a nationally recognized lake habitat restoration program. Program methods include using Best Management Practices recognized as “state-of-the-art” restoration methods.
Most shoreline restoration methods involve the use of heavy equipment which necessarily restricts the available sites to those accessible by land-based equipment. Many high-priority restorations sites are therefore excluded from the restoration efforts. PFBC purchased a heavy-duty barge to transport equipment and materials to such remote sites (Figure 1). Shoreline stabilization efforts will take place at 6 sites stabilizing 38,000 ft2. In addition to restored shorelines that will reduce erosion and turbidity, angler bank fishing access will be augmented. Structural habitat, i.e., root wads, woody structure and rock reefs will be place at or near these restored sites
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Bank access will improved at the restoration sites and boat-based angling will be improved by the addition of “boat-mooring stations” at or near the structure sites. An current high-use aquatic resource will be even more accessible upon completion of the restoration efforts.
Partners:
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Friends of Raystown Lake
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Juanita College
Student Conservation Association
Huntington Visitors Bureau
Pennsylvania Striped Bass Association
Neskowin Fish Passage Improvement Project, Oregon
This project also provides emergency egress to the local community during flooding events. The project site is located in the town of Neskowin, Oregon in Tillamook County at the southern end of Tillamook County.
The Neskowin Fish Passage Improvement Project increased access to 250 acres of riverine estuary, tidal scrub/shrub, and tidal forest wetland rearing habitat and 5 miles of spawning habitat for Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, Chum salmon, Steelhead trout, Pacific lamprey, and Cutthroat trout. The project replaced three undersized culverts and two tide gates with two 32’ bridges sized to meet federal and state fish passage requirements. The crossing structures are associated with the construction of an emergency egress road, which replaced the former road, which blocked hydraulic exchange and fish passage.
This project addressed threats to fish associated with altered tidal exchange and climate change. The removal of tide gates and culverts increased connectivity and created more tidal flushing. Tidal flushing creates a more natural salinity gradient for estuary salmonids during the juvenile rearing phase when they are migrating out of tributaries and into more saline environments. The bridges convey water across Hawk Street without concentrating flows through culverts and creating velocity barriers for juvenile salmonids. With more frequent high flow events, access to off-channel and alcove habitats that wetlands provide is essential for velocity refugia. The Neskowin Estuary-Wetland complex is considered a small estuary, and the project benefited fish habitat for three of PMEP’s priority focal species.
The Final ESA Recovery Plan for Oregon Coast Coho Salmon (NMFS 2016) states that lack of floodplain habitat, rearing habitat, and overwintering habitat are primary factors limiting Coho recovery. The plan specifically states that “increasing rearing capacity is the best way to improve the resilience of Oregon Coast coho salmon in the face of anticipated future reductions in marine survival” (3-15). This project reconnected floodplain habitat and increased the amount of rearing habitat available to juvenile Coho by removing passage barriers in Hawk and Butte Creeks. The recovery plan also states that increasing overwinter rearing habitat is the top priority for the ESU’s recovery (6- 7). The Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan for the State of Oregon also points to the importance of rearing habitat for coho recovery. Hawk and Butte Creeks and the Neskowin Marsh provide winter rearing habitat. Juvenile fish were previously blocked from accessing these habitats during critical high flow times of the year. This project increased juvenile access to these important habitat areas, which will become even more important as climate change conditions increase.
Before project implementation, the road blocked hydraulic exchange and fish passage across the wetland. The Neskowin tidal scrub/shrub and forest wetland complex extend for 250 acres on the east side of the crossings. During high winter flows and storm surges, the culverts in the project site were often overtopped and easily clogged with debris, posing a flood risk for Neskowin residents and a maintenance challenge for the County. Hawk Street itself acted as a partial dike, blocking flow between the northern and southern portions of Hawk Creek.
Neskowin Creek, Hawk Creek, and Butte Creek flow through the community of Neskowin and merge to form an estuary before emptying into the Pacific Ocean (see project and vicinity maps). Hawk Street is a county-owned footpath that runs north of the state-owned Neskowin Beach Wayside. Hawk Street crossed over two tide-gated circular culverts on Butte Creek. Hawk street crossed another culvert on Hawk Creek and an additional culvert on a wetland channel called Tributary 1. Fish passage and natural stream function were limited in Hawk, Butte Creeks, and Tributary 1 due to these crossings; the culverts and associated tide gates were undersized and failing. The culverts were velocity barriers to juveniles during high flows, limiting the fish’s ability to access critical rearing and refuge habitat. The Hawk Creek barrier was on the Salmon Superhighway Culvert Prioritization List. The Butte Creek barrier was ranked as a High priority in NNSLWC’s 2006 Culvert Prioritization and was a high priority on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fish Passage Priority List.
The original Neskowin Fish Passage Improvement Project included the replacement of the Hawk and Butte Creek Crossings, and the greater egress project completed construction of the road and the oversized box culvert to replace the current Tributary 1 crossing. Combining these two projects eliminated these major fish passage barriers, providing greater ecological and community benefits.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
This project has significant ecological and community benefits. The project opened up access for ESA-listed species in two streams to previously completed NNSLWC restoration projects in upstream habitats in both Butte and Hawk Creeks. By replacing culverts that blocked fish passage with a bridge, the project also has improved public access to the Neskowin Marsh Refuge AND addressed seasonal flooding issues that have impacted private property owners. The project provided the Neskowin community with an emergency egress road that meets the 100-year flood criteria. Previously the only other access was via a bridge that is regularly overtopped by storm surges during winter and high tides. The roads connecting to that bridge also flood to the point where normal vehicle passage is not possible. This secondary access road will be only used by vehicles during emergencies (such as flooding) but will be open to bike and foot traffic all the time. The road now forms the western border of the Neskowin Marsh Refuge, part of the USFWS Coastal Refuge system. The Refuge is home to many migratory birds, and beavers and is critical rearing habitat for salmon. The access road now provides improved access for wildlife viewing and enjoyment.
Project Timeline:
Construction began in the spring of 2021, and the project was completed in the spring of 2022. The emergency egress road project was first recommended to the County in 2014 by a local committee addressing coastal hazards faced by the Neskowin village. Fundraising efforts were begun by the county and then with the inclusion of the fish passage improvements by the NNSLWC. The project was delayed several times by complications with property ownership and the challenges of building a road through a wetland. The funding plan also included grants that had to be specifically approved by the Oregon Legislature, thus subject to a long political process.
Partners: NNSLWC, OWEB, ODFW, Tillamook County Public Works, USFWS, USFS
Huzzah, Courtois, Shoal Creek Watersheds, Missouri
Three canoe liveries service the Huzzah/Courtois creeks offering canoeing, kayaking, and rafting opportunities for their customers (many of whom fish). Floating these Ozark streams is a multi-million dollars business supporting hundreds of jobs. Additional outdoor activities include hunting, camping, backpacking, bike riding, and hiking on over 60,000 acres of public land. Is this a retrospective project (Y/N)? No Purpose of the project: Between September 2017 and October 2019, Ozark Land Trust, Missouri Department of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy-MO Chapter, Crawford County Soil and Water District, Gateway Chapter of Trout Unlimited, AND most importantly, private landowners completed eleven best management practices projects under a Fishers and Farmers grant. Funds were used to implement practices that improve and protect aquatic and riparian (forested) habitat and water quality of the Huzzah Creek and the Meramec River watersheds in Missouri, as well as improve the landowner’s agricultural operation. These projects have inspired more landowners to install conservation practices on their property and, in some cases, obtain information about permanent protection options such as conservation easements. Three conservation easements are currently under negotiation in this focus area. The partners’ match was more than four times the Fishers and Farmers grant which enabled the completion of even more projects.
More funding and partners have been coming into the project than ever before. Fishers and Farmers Partnership looks forward to working with these great partners again soon. The Meramec River is a globally significant river that supports 31 aquatic species of global significance, including several species found nowhere else on earth. It is also an outdoor destination for tens of thousands of people, a source of drinking water for the St. Louis Metropolitan region and the watershed is home to many farms and farmers. Human Interest/Community Benefit: The innovative approach being used in this geography to engage landowners willing to adopt Best Management Practices (BMPs) is conservation marketing. Conservation marketing is planning, communication, and implementation process designed to deliver value for targeted customers through conservation products and services they desire and trust that benefits the biological, habitat, and socio-economic need of a community.
In 2012, a landowner committee was formed and guided through a facilitated conservation marketing planning process to identify products, price, placement, and promotion of BMP offerings. These BMPs will improve the health of woodlands, grasslands, and streams, which support a rich diversity of aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal life. In 2014, a conservation marketing action plan was completed, which continues to guide our strategies and tasks needed to reach our shared mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Having representative landowners on the committee has proven to be effective at identifying natural resources issues and potential solutions, including identifying local/qualified contractors who can implement practices and help spread the word in the community. Perhaps just as important is these landowners help identify important target audiences, communication channels, and messages that resonate with other local landowners.
In our opinion, the best and most credible promotional strategy to get more landowners to consider and adopt BMPs is for them to see and hear from other landowners who are using those BMPs. We usually have a host farm family share their experiences of implementing BMPs on their property by inviting other local landowners to a farm tour. The landowner committee and host farm family will send invitation letters to other watershed landowners. Ozark Land Trust OLT, Missouri Department of Conservation MDC, and The Nature Conservancy TNC will work together on nearly every project under this grant and would be involved with outreach and educational events. Each organization also has its own publication and periodically includes articles about projects completed in the watershed.
Project Timeline:
The Project was completed in 2019. Another project was proposed for FY23, accepted by Fishers & Farmers, and ranked as Fishers & Farmers top priority project.
Partners: Ozark Land Trust, Missouri Department of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, Missouri Soil and Water Conservation Districts – Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fishers & Farmers Partnership, Farmers/Landowners.
Grandpa’s Farm Bridge Road, Alaska
The specific purposes of this project are to eliminate the fish passage restriction caused by the last remaining perched culvert by replacing the culvert with a timber bridge and also to eliminate the traffic hazard caused by the single lane culvert crossing lacking curbs and guardrails. The Grandpa’s Farm fish passage improvement project will benefit passage of rearing coho salmon, enabling them to reach about six miles of high-quality habitat along Harry Hall Creek and the Mountain View stream. Residents, visitors, and businesses along the road, as well as the general public who use the road, will benefit, and road maintenance provided at the site by the City of Gustavus will be reduced.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: The City of Gustavus is located in the northern part of Southeast Alaska, has a population of about 655, and is known as the Gateway to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Gustavus is a subsistence community, and the local harvest of fish, wildlife, and abundant plant resources, remains important to most residents. In summer, the population is at its highest as many residents come here to second homes and cabins. It is also a popular tourist destination as many lodges, and fishing/outdoor companies provide access to fishing trips and of course, the majestic Glacier Bay. In winter, about half the population stays in town.
As a result of this project, the community of Gustavus will have a safer stream crossing. The bridge will be an attractive addition to the road that serves several subdivisions and a major fishing lodge. The project will also eliminate the traffic hazard of the current narrow unguarded stream crossing with a steep drop-off into the stream; making it safer and more usable to the community and the many visitors who come to Gustavus to fish, enter Glacier Bay National Park, and Preserve, and enjoy the community of Gustavus and all the scenic beauty this unique setting has to offer.
Project Timeline:
March – May 2022: Contract for project implementation open
August 1, 2022: Project implementation begins
August 15th(ish): Project completes
August 15th(ish): Community of Gustavus Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (tentative, pending project completion date)
Partners:
City of Gustavus, Alaska
Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Trout Unlimited
Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund
Alaskan Brewing Company
Deshka River, Alaska
The Deshka River hosts five species of Pacific salmon and is home to one of the most productive fisheries in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) basin. It is also among the warmest salmon systems in the Mat-Su with summer water temperatures regularly exceeding thresholds considered stressful for rearing juvenile and spawning adult salmon. Based on available data, the Mat-Su has some of the warmest streams in Alaska.
Water temperature affects all phases of the salmon lifecycle; egg/embryo survival, juvenile growth, timing of seaward migration and migration rate of returning adults. Warm water temperature induces stress in salmon and makes them more vulnerable to pollution, predation and disease. Research indicates that warm summer temperatures negatively impact the survival of juvenile Chinook salmon rearing in the Deshka and other streams around the region (Mauger et al. 2017; Jones et al. 2020). In 2019, warm stream temperatures blocked adult migration and had negative effects on juvenile growth.
Management actions to minimize the effects of warming on Deshka River salmon have been limited by a poor understanding of both their thermal requirements and the extent and distribution of thermally suitable habitats.
To help close these gaps, partners from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), and Cook Inletkeeper have been:
• Monitoring water temperature, streamflow and the distribution of juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon throughout the growing season across the Deshka River watershed. These data, when combined with output from the spatially explicit watershed temperature model (based on data from the Deshka River temperature monitoring and flow measurements), will allow partners to define the temperature range used by juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon rearing in the Deshka River watershed (i.e., their thermal niches; see Isaak et al. 2017).
• Conducting long term stream temperature monitoring, coupled with remote sensing data to enable partners to identify cold-water refugia in the Deshka River system, which may be critical habitat for salmon in a warming climate.
• Modeling to estimate how the extent and distribution of thermally suitable habitat has changed over time, how it will change in the future, and the degree to which it has affected the size of past salmon runs. This information can guide conservation and fishery management actions by identifying key rearing areas for juvenile salmon, prioritizing areas for conservation actions that maintain cool water and habitat connectivity, predicting the effects of warming on future salmon production, and reserving instream flow in key tributaries. This work can feed directly into fishery management by informing pre-season forecasts and spawning escapement goals.
These same partners are mirroring efforts underway on the Deshka and initiating a multi-year effort to understand thermal needs of salmon life stages and model changing temperatures across the Little Susitna watershed - another top producing salmon stream in the Mat-Su basin. Partners will continue to monitor water temperature, streamflow, and summer distribution of juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon in each of these historically productive salmon streams that differ in terms of watershed topography and temperature regimes. This information will guide conservation efforts by identifying areas that will remain cool enough to function as salmon habitat well into the future and highlighting stream segments that are key to maintaining connectivity among these areas.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Deshka River hosts five species of Pacific salmon, and often produces the largest Chinook salmon returns in upper Cook Inlet and contributes to subsistence resources for the residents of Tyonek. It’s home to a popular salmon sport fishery – which has waned in recent years due to lower returns and subsequent fishing restrictions.
In an economic analysis commissioned by the Mat-Su Borough in 2007 and again in 2017, the economic benefits of sportfishing in the Mat-Su, including angler days, direct spending, and employment were reduced by approximately half during this time period. These findings underscored both sportfishing as an important component of the Mat-Su Borough’s economy and the importance of healthy salmon returns while maintaining fishing opportunities for both residents and visitors.
Although largely inaccessible by road, the Deshka faces potential changes in habitat protections and new potential development pressures. The Deshka River is one of six rivers in the Susitna River basin designated as a “Recreational River” under the Recreational Rivers Act, which was passed by the Alaska State Legislature in 1988. The subsequent Susitna Basin Recreational Rivers Management Plan was created in 1991 to ensure recreational access and maintain cultural and ecological characteristics of these rivers. During the 2021 Legislative Session, Senate Bill 97 was introduced to repeal the Susitna Basin Recreational Rivers Management Plan. The bill has not been voted on by both chambers, however, a governor-appointed Advisory Board has been formed to review the Management Plan. The state is separately considering approval of natural gas exploration licenses that would cover a large portion of the Deshka River in an area of potential coal bed methane deposits.
Additional partner efforts:
- USFWS/Alaska Department of Fish & Game/United States Geological Survey: Reserving water for fish. Partners collected necessary data to secure water rights on Kroto, Moose and Trapper Creeks and other small Deshka River drainage streams as supplemental sites. Partners have been completing water reservations like these, on important salmon streams vulnerable to development, so that as the region grows and demand for water resources increases or climatic conditions change, water will be reserved to remain in the stream for the benefit of fish and aquatic life.
• Cook Inletkeeper: Real time temperature monitoring on the Deshka. Since 2013, Cook Inletkeeper has maintained an online, real time temperature monitoring station below the Deshka River weir operated by ADFG. Learn more here.
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game: Monitoring salmon returns and genetic identification: ADFG operates a weir at mile 7 on the Deshka River, and provides daily counts of migrating adult salmon. These data will be used to overlap timing of warm events with habitat use of salmon by life stage. Among other benefits, ADFG is collecting tissue samples to provide genetic identification of migrating fish.
- University of Alaska Fairbanks: Invasive species research. The Deshka River is home to an invasive population of Northern Pike. A UAF graduate student is assessing how invasive Northern Pike predation on juvenile salmon in the Deshka River may change in response to warming water temperatures.
Publications:
Cook Inletkeeper monitored the mainstems of 48 salmon streams in the Mat-Su Basin and elsewhere around Cook Inlet. Collaborations with other partners, including the University of Alaska and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have produced three journal articles that analyze how ongoing warming may be affecting salmon:
- Lowland salmon streams in the Mat-Su Basin are warming rapidly and parts of these watersheds have already reached temperatures that are considered harmful to salmon during warm summers. Read the article: bit.ly/warmingmatsustreams
- Mat-Su Basin salmon streams are predominantly cold, but temperature regimes will be warmer, more variable, and less diverse in the coming decades. Read the article: bit.ly/thermaldiversity
- Recent declines in Cook Inlet’s Chinook salmon populations can be attributed in part to climate-driven changes in temperature and streamflow in freshwater habitats. Read the article: bit.ly/climateandchinook
Project Timeline: 2017-2022
Partners:
Core partners in this work are Cook Inletkeeper, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
University of Alaska Anchorage. Additional partners and supporters include (but are not limited to) ADFG, USGS, Mat-Su Salmon Partnership.
Bear Creek, Wisconsin (2012 Retrospective Project)
The National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) with the Trout Unlimited Driftless Area Restoration Effort (DARE) and the Aldo Leopold Chapter of TU (ALCTU) is critical to Bear Creek’s restoration. The purpose of the project is to reduce erosion and siltation within Bear Creek to provide high-quality cold-water habitat. This partnership can change Bear Creek’s Class II stream status to a Class I stream, thereby providing sustainable native and wild cold-water fish populations. Stabilized stream banks will improve water and substrate quality resulting in long-term benefits to the entire stream habitat.
Project Partners: Alliant Energy Foundation, Aldo Leopold Chapter TU, William Fargen Family, Badger Fly Fishers, J. E. Dutton Foundation, Sauk County Land Conservation Department, Trout & Salmon Foundation, TU Embrace-A-Stream, USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin State Council TU
Eklutna River, Alaska
The initial Eklutna Hydroelectric dam, built in 1929, blocked the migration of spawning salmon and was the first of two severe impacts to the Eklutna River system by hydroelectric projects. Over the course of 2017 and 2018, the defunct lower Eklutna dam was successfully removed in the most ambitious river restoration project ever attempted in Alaska. The Conservation Fund, the Native Village of Eklutna and Eklutna Inc. completed the 5- year, $7.5 million effort to remove the Lower Eklutna River dam.
Known to its ancestral inhabitants as Idlughet, this area is among the traditional lands of the Eklutna Dena’ina who would overwinter along the shores of Eklutna Lake (Idlu Bena). The Eklutna River, Idlughentnu, and its wild salmon runs have long supported the Eklutna Dena’ina, however historic hydroelectric development on the river has greatly diminished the formerly flourishing salmon fisheries.
The Lower Eklutna River dam was built in 1929 as part of Alaska’s first hydroelectric project. Located in a dramatic 400-foot deep canyon, access to the dam site was a severe challenge during the construction and later demolition of the dam. In construction, a tram cart delivered concrete down the cliff face to the workers below. Workers toiled throughout an entire Alaskan winter to complete the dam in a year’s time. The dam was 70 feet wide, 100 feet tall and 9 feet thick at its base. This structure pooled and diverted water through a half-mile tunnel to a generating station nearby. Power ran by wire to Anchorage until the early 1950s when it was decommissioned.
The lower Eklutna dam was ultimately abandoned after a second hydroelectric project was built at Eklutna Lake to provide additional electricity to the growing city of Anchorage. Completed in 1955, the currently operating Eklutna Hydroelectric Project diverts all of the water from Eklutna Lake and doesn’t release any water into the Eklutna River Repeated studies over several decades recommended the removal of the Lower Eklutna River dam as an essential first step in restoring the Eklutna River.
Project Timeline: Project completed in 2018
Project Partners:
Key project partners in dam removal were The Conservation Fund, Native Village of Eklutna and Eklutna Inc. Funding for the $7.5 million project was provided largely by The Conservation Fund, with additional financial support from the Rasmuson Foundation, the M.J Murdock Charitable Trust, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Open Rivers Fund of the Hewlett Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, the Marnell Corporation, the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund, Patagonia, Orvis, Wells Fargo, Alaska Community Foundation and National Fish Habitat Partnership.
With removal of the lower dam, for the first time in nearly a century, salmon can access the 8 miles of habitat up to the Eklutna Lake. However the diversion dam at the out flow of Eklutna lakeblocks fish passage and prevents the release of water to support salmon and alklow their full and adequate use of the recently reconnected habitat. The Eklutna HydroelectricP roject owners are legally obligated to make up for impacts to fish and wildlife, and stakeholders are engaged to help return salmon and water to the Eklutna River.Native Village of Eklutna, The Conservation Fund, Trout Unlimited and The Alaska Center formed the Eklutna River Restoration Coalition, together the coalition is working to bring back a healthy and fully functioning river by ensuring free passage for fish and enough water in the river to support five species of salmon.
All the water that would flow down the Eklutna River is currently diverted from its natural course. 90% of the water in the lake is pumped through the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project to create 3- 6% of electricity for the area. The remaining 10% of the water provides the majority of Anchorage’s drinking water. It is believed that there is enough water to meet Anchorage’s drinking water needs, create electricity, and support all five species of wild salmon in the Eklutna River. That is what these partners are working toward.
September 2021 Water Release Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOCJeyTExY
Jordan Creek, Alaska
The story of Jordan Creek (in Juneau, Alaska) is a tale of a salmon stream dramatically transformed by both nature and humans.
As one of the greatest forces of nature, glaciers have profoundly impacted Juneau’s landscape for millennia. During the Little Ice Age, Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier advanced down its valley discharging huge volumes of meltwater and sediment from its terminus. At the peak of this advance, a broad network of braided outwash channels meandered along the east side of the valley, from the glacier’s face to the nearby ocean. These channels roiled with frigid, sediment-laden waters virtually inhospitable to salmon and other fish.
The glacier’s advance reversed around the year 1750. With this retreat, outwash channels combined forming what is today called the Mendenhall River on the valley’s west side. As their connections to the retreating glacier diminished, the abandoned east-side channels transformed into small, clearwater salmon streams dependent on snowmelt and rain to sustain their flows. Tlingit people, the original inhabitants of the Áakw Táak (Mendenhall Valley), hunted, fished, and gathered foods along these streams. Their footprint in the valley was very small.
Outsiders flocked to the area during Juneau’s gold rush in the early 1900s. Hydropower facilities built near the glacier powered gold mines and dairies scattered across the Mendenhall tide flats, suppling a growing population with milk. As flat and relatively dry land, the Mendenhall Valley was developed rapidly and extensively. Small streams were channelized and dredged for gravel to build roads and neighborhoods. Eventually, nearly all land between the glacier’s terminal moraine and the ocean was developed for housing, businesses, and an airport. Although more than 10,000 people live in the valley, much of Jordan Creek was spared. Most of the watershed sits in a narrow undeveloped strip of land at the base of Thunder Mountain. This is where Jordan Creek begins.
Today, from its headwaters to its mouth, Jordan Creek flows through two very different worlds divided by Egan Drive, Juneau’s major thoroughfare. Upstream of Egan Drive, the natural world dominates. Most of the watershed is covered with forest, shrublands, and wetlands. Neighborhoods encroach in only a few places. On the steep face of Thunder Mountain, numerous headwater streams cascade to the valley floor converging to form the main stem of Jordan Creek. Salmon, trout, and char live in the stream and beaver, snowshoe hare and wolves share the forest with hikers seeking solitude along the Under Thunder Trail.
At Egan Drive Jordan Creek abruptly enters an urban world. Meadows and wetlands have been replaced with roads, parking lots, and buildings - all necessary parts of a thriving community, but with consequences for the health of the stream and its salmon. Streamside vegetation is missing or confined to a narrow strip next to the channel, which has been straightened and relocated in places. Snow and gravel get plowed into the channel and stormwater carries pollutants into the stream that harm aquatic insects and fish. Litter is common and urban noise fills the air. To reach the stream from the ocean, returning salmon swim through 1,000 feet of culvert under the airport.
Not surprising, Jordan Creek is listed as an impaired water body by the state of Alaska. Official impairments include excess sediment and debris inputs and no or low levels of dissolved oxygen in streambed gravels where salmon eggs incubate and aquatic insects live. Polluted runoff from urban surfaces enters the stream at 15 outfalls delivering sediment and other contaminants to the stream. This stormwater contains petroleum hydrocarbons; fecal coliform bacteria; heavy metals like zinc, copper, and lead; and other pollutants harmful to fish and other aquatic life.
For 30 years, agencies and organizations have documented the creek’s baseline conditions and developed several watershed recovery and management plans. Stream banks have been revegetated, riparian areas protected with fencing, invasive plants eradicated, and stormwater treated. The individual and cumulative impacts of these projects on watershed health has been small. Fully restoring the health of Jordan Creek will come from a focused, comprehensive, and community-driven effort to address the highest priority and impactful projects.
Led by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC), a coalition of diverse partners is now working to showcase how watershed-based approaches can restore Jordan Creek. This coalition intends to make Jordan Creek the first salmon stream removed from the state’s impaired waterbodies list.
In 2019, member groups of the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership (SEAKFHP), including the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teamed up to address urban stormwater pollution and support efforts to address water qualify impairments, including instituting protection measures for Jordan Creek. This work was funded through the Alaska’s Clean Water Actions (ACWA) program, a program established by the Governor’s Office and Alaska’s resource agencies to prioritize waterbodies for stewardship actions and to better coordinate resources and agency efforts to protect and restore these waterbodies. With funding from the ACWA program, SAWC completed a watershed action plan for Lower Jordan Creek in the spring of 2021. The plan identifies sources of pollutants and other stream impairments and recommends site specific actions to address stormwater pollution and riparian health.
With a new ACWA grant received in 2021, SAWC is implementing four green stormwater infrastructure projects recommended in the action plan. The projects, which are located on private and public land, will restore riparian areas and treat stormwater runoff to help reduce flooding and prevent pollutants from reaching the stream. In addition to the environment benefits of these projects, these actions have spawned a new collaborative working relationship between a major landowner (City and Borough of Juneau), a major land manager (Alaska Dept. of Transportation and Public Facilities) a major funder of watershed stewardship actions (Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation), SEAKFHP members, and private landowners. This partnership will be leveraged in the future to help make watershed restoration actions a proactive part of infrastructure planning and design.
In addition to the stormwater pollution projects, on-the-ground improvements are improving the habitat for fish. A recently completed assessment of riparian conditions in lower Jordan Creek, conducted by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition and US Fish and Wildlife Service revealed impacts to riparian vegetation from snow storage, land development, and the removal of vegetation at several locations. These impairments can alter the vegetation’s ability to filter out pollutants and provide nutrients and habitat for fish along the stream. A partnership with Super 8 Motel and Jordan Creek Center will restore and protected riparian on private property along Jordan Creek. Invasive species treatments are eradicating reed canary grass, European mountain ash and European bird cherry from important riparian habitat along the stream, and a joint effort between the Juneau International Airport, St Vincent DePaul’s Society and Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition is cleaning up and stewarding a greenbelt important for fish and wildlife.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Jordan Creek flows through a highly urbanized part of Alaska’s Capitol, and improving water quality, riparian areas, and fish habitat in Jordan Creek will provide many benefits to local residents and visitors. Further, community engagement and education are key to successful restoration at Jordan Creek. Partners are working together to foster land stewardship and connect youth and underserved community members to nature. For example, the Lower Jordan Creek Greenbelt is designated as a natural area park, but illegal camping, trash dumping, vandalism, and illicit activity had degraded the Greenbelt, damaged habitat, and discouraged legitimate public use of the area. The Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition teamed up with the Juneau International Airport and the residents of a neighboring St Vincent de Paul Society housing unit to improve recreation infrastructure and opportunities through a new trail system, increase garbage cleanup and safety patrols, provide nature-based outdoor education opportunities for youth through regular school programs at the Greenbelt, and restore fish and wildlife habitat by planting native species.
Community members have pitched in through trash cleanups. Scout Troops, Trout Unlimited members, and other community volunteers have planted native plants along the riparian area of Jordan Creek.
The upper Jordan Creek watershed is a popular recreation area. Residents hike, bike, ski and view salmon along the 1.3-mile long Under Thunder Trail, which parallels Jordan Creek. Professional naturalists and teachers from Glacier Valley Elementary School use the upper watershed as an outdoor classroom to study aquatic insects, salmon life history, wildlife ecology, and hydrology. In the lower urban reaches of the stream, people working in streamside offices and businesses and hotels guests enjoy salmon viewing and greenspace in the narrow riparian corridor.
Numerous wildlife species, including many that depend on healthy salmon runs, live in the Jordan Creek watershed. Some of the resident mammals include beaver, river otter, black-tailed deer, snowshoe hair, porcupine, and even wolves. Beaver ponds provide important rearing habitat for juvenile coho salmon and other fish species. Jordan Creek is an important system for supporting anadromous fish populations due to its availability of spawning and rearing habitat and has historically supported populations of wild coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), chum (Oncorhynchus keta), sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) and pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) salmon, Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki).
Project Timeline:
August 2021-
-Complete Constructed Wetland / Stormwater Treatment Area at Jordan Creek Greenbelt.
September-October 2021
-Engaging stakeholders and landowners in stewardship
March 2022:
-Construction of Nugget Mall Stormwater BMP
-Construction of Stormwater BMPs on Crest St.
June 2022:
-Trout Street Ditch Storm Water BMP Constructed
-Rating curve for Jordan Creek gage site
-Stream Discharge Measurements and Water Quality and Sediment Sampling.
July-August 2022: Riparian restoration at Jordan Creek Center.
September 2023: invasive plant control
Ongoing
-Engagement of landowners and stakeholders
-Implementation of Stormwater Pollution projects identified in the Lower Jordan Creek Action Plan.
“Economic impact models have been developed to track the expenditures made in local communities and estimate the local economic activity generated as a result of expenditures made from restoration projects. Model results specific to the efforts to improve water quality and habitat conditions within Jordan Creek during 2019 and 2020, show an investment of $168,000 (not including other in-kind project support) supports 3.3 jobs in Juneau and generates roughly $332,185 in total sales, $198,000 in value added and $162,283 in incomes for this local community.”
Project Partners:
Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Super 8 Motel
Discovery Southeast
Juneau International Airport
Tongass Chapter Trout Unlimited
Society of Saint Vincent De Paul
Cub Scouts
Local landowners
City and Borough of Juneau
Heath, Rice, & Wolf Creeks-Cannon River Watershed, Minnesota
This project brings together partners that include the local Bridgewater Township, Circle Lake Association and Tri-Lakes Sportsmen’s Club, and creates opportunities for non-farm and farming community members to learn from and support each other, adding great potential for sustained and perpetual practice change. It also creates farmer-to-farmer learning opportunities that promote best management practices and addresses farming impacts at the watershed scale. In addition, opportunities are created for students at St. Olaf College to gain long-term in-field and in-stream knowledge about agricultural practices, water quality testing and habitat assessment.
Because Rice Creek contains a self-sustaining Brook Trout population, Bridgewater Township sponsored the 2013 Rice Creek Assessment Project carried out by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources,
St. Olaf College, Trout Unlimited, and Clean Water Partners. Contributors were Rice Soil and Water Conservation District, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Rice Creek Concerned Citizens Group. Minnesota Trout Unlimited received Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council funding to enhance Rice Creek. Additionally, St. Olaf College uses Rice Creek for long-term macroinvertebrate studies.
Check out the Clean River Partners video: Cover Crops, Tillage, and Trout
Current Projects: FY19 will be completed October 30, 2021. FY21 project will be completed in two years.
Project Activities, Methods, and Timetable:
May -Sep 2021
• Present cover crop plan to watershed farmers;
- Provide 66% of cover crop seed cost for acres currently planted with cover crops in Rice Creek watershed;
- Provide 70% of total cover crop cost for all new acres in Rice, Heath and Wolf Creek watersheds;
• Establish cover crop fields, planting plans and contracts with farmers.
• Rice SWCD and Clean River Partners staff work with farmers to identify fields and determine planting plans.
2021 cropping season and ending in 2023
• Rice SWCD contracts with farmers to plant cover crops;
• Farmers plant cover crops.
March - November 2021, 2022 and 2023
• Measure water quality impacts
- Grab sample water from 3 streams in 2 locations on each stream up to 8 times each year for 3 years. Test for nitrate, TSS and TP.
- Grab sample tile drainage from up to 20 locations up to 10 times per year, from fields planted with cover crops and from control fields without cover crops. Test for nitrate and phosphorus.
• Measure stream biology impacts
- Collect macro invertebrate population samples from 3 streams up to 3 times each year for 3 years.
Summer/Fall 2021- 2023
• Hold up to three farm field days (one per year);
• Publish up to 6 newspaper and newsletter articles (two per year);
• Provide mid-summer report to individual farmers.
Winter 2022 - 2023
• Hold two informational meetings with a meal for cooperating farmers;
• Provide annual report to farmers and partners.
Fall 2023
• Conduct fish population survey on each stream and compare results to previous survey results.
Buckhorn Ranch Alum Fork Saline River, Arkansas
The Alum Fork Saline River is an Extraordinary Resource Waterbody and an Ecologically Sensitive Waterbody that is the home to several threatened, endangered, and at-risk species as well as species of greatest conservation need. This project serves as a demonstration project for other landowners that are seeing erosion issues and unsure of how to address the issues. Reducing the sediment entering the stream will improve water quality for many uses as well as for ecologically and economically important species including recreationally targeted species. The project will stop sediment inputs from getting into the Alum Fork Saline River, by using rock vanes that point upstream and replant native vegetation.
Project Timeline: Completed in October 2019.
Project Partners:
US Army Corps of Engineers
AR Department of Environmental Quality
US Fish and Wildlife Service
AR Game and Fish Commission
Section 6
Partners for Fish and Wildlife
Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
Brian Nalley
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTJDm91JqRg&t=35s
Holly Creek, Georgia
The Holly Creek directly provides habitat for a diverse assemblage of native fish and freshwater mussels and is home to six federally listed and one at-risk species. Holly Creek including the habitat at the project site supports a cool-water recreational fishery. The aquatic habitat has been degraded from poultry pollution caused by insufficient riparian buffers along streams and incompatible land management techniques. This watershed is a high-priority watershed with The Nature Conservancy, Limestone Valley RC&D as well as USFWS and SARP. TNC and the Limestone Valley have been using the SARP Protocol to survey culverts and determine high-priority restoration sites. The project will restore the riparian buffer by planting native vegetation and use natural channel design techniques to stabilize the eroding stream bank.
Project Timeline:
December 2020-Design and Permitting, NEPA and ESA Compliance
Early October 2021: Mobilization and Site Preparation
Mid October 2021: Construction of Toe wood and Vegetated Geo-lifts
Late October 2021: Riparian Planting
Project Partners:
The Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI)
Corblu Inc.
Limestone Valley RC&D
Private landowner
Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Beaver Lake, Arkansas
Shoreline habitat varies from shallow sloping mud flats, moderately sloping gravel and cobble banks, to sheer vertical limestone and sandstone cliffs with large rockslides. Historically, standing timber was abundant in some coves, but is now deteriorating as the lake ages. The fertility of Beaver Lake varies from being extremely fertile in the upper reaches of the tributary arms to being relatively infertile in the lower areas around the dam. This fertility gradient is a function of the high retention time (1.5 year’s average) of water in the reservoir working in combination with varying inflows of nutrients and sediment into the reservoir.
Beaver Lake is an aging reservoir, it is over 53 years old and fish habitat is degrading over time. Increased siltation, excessive nutrients, and lack of littoral structure are priority impairments identified in the Southern Appalachians region. According to the Beaver Lake Watershed Protection Strategy future annual sediment loading is estimated to increase 21 percent or almost 50,000 tons per year. Without additional protective measures, stream channel erosion is estimated to contribute most (approximately 60 percent) of the sediment load to Beaver Lake. By 2055, the total phosphorus in the lake is expected to increase by approximately 24,000 pounds per year. As with sediment, the Beaver Lake and War Eagle Creek subwatersheds are predicted to be the largest sources of phosphorus to the lake. The War Eagle Creek subwatershed is predicted to deliver the largest nitrogen load under both existing and future scenarios (See Figures 3 and 4). War Eagle Creek is also listed by the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality as an impaired stream due to increased siltation and nutrients. A Stream Channel and Riparian Stabilization Project will implement best management practices to achieve nutrient and sediment reductions, and will be installed along Clifty Creek, a tributary of War Eagle Creek, and within close proximity of Beaver Lake.
The goals of the Beaver Lake Cedar Tree Habitat Project will be to improve fish, wildlife and glade habitats on Beaver Lake, and Beaver Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) by removing invasive Eastern Red Cedar trees from several areas around the lake. Removal of the trees will correspond with a prescribed burn schedule to improve plant diversity and wildlife habitat. The trees will be placed in Beaver Lake to improve fish habitat around the lake. Habitat placement goals include 130 new fish habitat sites on Beaver Lake, thirty sites will be located close to public use areas to improve shoreline angling success and increase access to underserved community groups.
Project deliverables included:
1. 600 linear feet of streambank and stream channel restored along Big Clifty Creek.
2. Six acres of riparian buffer enhanced with Ozark native plants.
3. Local demonstration site for landowners to visit to learn more on stream restoration.
4. Improved water quality in Beaver Lake (that is used for drinking water for over 500,000 people).
5. Improved fish habitat in Beaver Lake with added 130 habitat sites.
6. Improved shoreline and weekend angler success by placement of 30 fish habitat structures close to public access areas and shoreline fishing locations and improved angler catch rates and satisfaction rates.
7. Evaluation and survey data on fish habitat improvements, including comparisons on fish use of new habitat structures vs. areas with no habitat, use of habitat structures by anglers, angler information on fishing the structures with a creel survey.
8. Increased education and awareness to over 20,000 stakeholders in the Beaver Lake watershed.
9. Improved wildlife habitat on Beaver Lake WMA by removing invasive cedar trees and incorporating a burn schedule in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hobbs State Park, the Natural Heritage Commission and Beaver Watershed Alliance. The cedar removal and prescribed burns will greatly improve native plant species and enhance wildlife populations, which will include white-tailed deer, quail, songbirds, and other native species.
10. Restored natural glades through invasive cedar tree removal, which will benefit native plant species.
11. Improved hunter success by clearing cedar trees and providing more suitable wildlife habitat.
12. Improved hunter, angler, and general public opinions of agencies and sponsors.
The population in northwest Arkansas is rapidly expanding putting additional stresses on both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Clean water is a priority to residents and maintaining a healthy water supply and high- quality recreational opportunities is a challenge under increasing urban pressures. This project addresses both water quality and recreational potential of Beaver Reservoir. Local interest in the project is evidenced by the number of partners involved in the project.
Project Timeline: Start Date: Sept 1, 2021; End Date: December 2022.
Project Partners: This project is a large cooperative endeavor that includes the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, several agencies (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Beaver Watershed Alliance, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Hobbs State Park, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Beaver Lake Office) and funding from the Fish America Foundation and Bass Pro Shops. In-kind labor and supplies from landowners, as well as numerous volunteer groups including hunting, fishing and nature clubs add to the diversity of partners.
Applegate Watershed, Oregon
Barriers to passage are one of the primary threats to Pacific Lamprey distribution and abundance throughout their range. In recent years, a number of major passage issues have been addressed in the Oregon South Coast Regional Management Unit (RMU), and an unprecedented four dams have been removed from the Rogue Basin in southern Oregon since 2007 opening the door to increased migratory capacity for Pacific Lamprey at all life stages in the region. Despite these important improvements, the Southern Oregon Coast Regional Implementation Plan notes that a number of existing structures continue to impede passage or alter the hydrography to the detriment of fish and aquatic wildlife in the Applegate Watershed (a subbasin of the Rogue River). The Applegate River is known to have spawning lamprey and has been identified as a river to target for lamprey conservation efforts within the Rogue Basin. Smaller dams and water diversions for municipal, irrigation, livestock and other uses are abundant within the South Coast sub-region. Contemporary structures are required to provide passage for migratory fish and maintain screening or by-pass devices to protect fish from impingement or entrainment.
Unfortunately, there are a large number of older structures that predate current screening and fish passage requirements. Additionally, active water rights associated with diversions make them difficult to upgrade or remove. Water diversion structures with inadequate screening or open irrigation canals can harm or entrap larval and juvenile lamprey while channel spanning concrete dams may delay or impede adult lamprey passage given their difficulty navigating over or around sharp edges (e.g., 90 degree angels), especially with high velocity (e.g., dams crest; Pacific Lamprey Technical Workgroup 2017).
Additionally, many salmonid barriers may also serve as passage barriers to lamprey, due to the right-angle concrete lip at the dam’s crest over which lamprey are often unable to navigate. This project will benefit upstream passage for migrating adults, through facilitating passage over dams that otherwise present a passage barrier with right angled concrete lips. Improving passage in the Applegate Watershed will potentially open up important spawning and rearing habitat for Pacific Lamprey. As passage is improved and Pacific Lamprey, partners are excited to watch them move back in to fully utilize the habitat available to them.
The Lamprey Passage for Small Dams in the Applegate Watershed Project targets six of these structures that present a passage issue to lamprey within the Applegate Watershed in the Rogue Basin. Many of these small dams can be modified at minimal cost to create a curve in the dam’s crest (such that lamprey can suction over) without impacting the water users or the dam’s integrity and structure. Due to the minimal impacts of these modifications to the dam itself, these passage retrofits represent “low-hanging fruit” for achieving adult upstream passage for lamprey across the basin at minimal cost. The Applegate Partnership & Watershed Council is leveraging its 2018 distribution survey to focus on barriers within systems known to support lamprey.
The six low-head dams targeted for this project include Murphy Dam and McKee Dam (mainstem Applegate River), Lovelace Dam (Slate Creek), Watts Topin (Williams Creek), Lower Philips Dam and Gin Lin Dam (Little Applegate River). Implementation of the project includes:
• Conducting water-user and landowner outreach, based on existing salmonid barrier assessments and partner knowledge, consulting with partners in the Rogue Basin Partnership’s Instream and Passage Working Group.
• Securing cooperative landowner agreements.
• These retrofits will be designed and implemented by a local passage expert from Western Fishes who has successfully retrofitted many such dams and pioneered many of the low-cost techniques using tubing and rounded stainless steel. Western Fishes will work with local partners: Grizzly Peak Working Group, Rogue Basin Partnership’s Native Species Working Group, USFWS and ODFW.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Pacific Lamprey are a culturally significant species and first food source for Native American Tribes throughout its historical range, and are also a tribal trust species for the USFWS and a state sensitive species for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The South Coast Regional Management Unit of PLCI has ranked passage as a threat for Pacific Lamprey, and allowing Pacific Lamprey to more fully utilize the Applegate Watershed will provide ecological, as well as human benefits to the region. The increased presence of lampreys in these watersheds will not only provide ecological benefits, but also increase awareness of this important species. Lack of awareness is also identified and a key threat to the recovery of Pacific Lamprey in this region.
Effectiveness monitoring for lamprey passage is very difficult given their nocturnal migration patterns and the site conditions at these specific barriers in the Applegate. The barriers that are retrofitted will be evaluated for the possibility of installing a video monitoring system. This will be the first monitoring station of this kind in Oregon south of the Umpqua, and will contribute valuable data on lamprey population in the region. Night surveys will be used to monitor the effectiveness of the retrofits at the other five barriers being addressed through this project.
Project Timeline: Fall 2020 – Fall 2022
Project Partners:
• Applegate Partnership & Watershed Council*
• Bureau of Land Management
• Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
• Grizzly Peak Working Group
• Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
• Rogue Basin Partnership’s Native Species Working Group
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• U.S. Forest Service
• Western Fishes*
Lawrence Creek, California
Restoration of floodplain habitat, including off-channel ponds and side channels, provides important “winter refugia”- shelter from high flows during intense winter storm events, and increased habitat diversity that leads to improved food resources for fish. This project also benefitted from streamlined permitting processes developed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and State Water Resources Control Board specifically for habitat restoration projects. Historically, thousands of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) returned annually to spawn in the rivers and streams of Northern California and Southern Oregon. The watersheds that supported this fishery supported robust and resilient populations of Coho salmon that could persist under a range of environmental conditions. Habitat alterations caused by land management, including historic logging practices, led to declines in these populations. Current population estimates state that steelhead are distributed in mainstem Yager Creek in all its forks and tributaries (approximately 53 miles). At least 19 of the available stream miles are potentially used by Coho Salmon and approximately 30 miles are utilized by Chinook salmon.
Lawrence Creek is a tributary to Yager Creek, which is located 11 miles upstream of the confluence with the Van Duzen River, and a tributary to the South Fork Eel River in Humboldt County, California. Yager Creek and its tributaries (including Lawrence Creek) are among the most important Coho and Chinook Salmon streams in the Van Duzen River basin (CDFW 2017). The Lower Eel/Van Duzen River Coho population is at high risk of extinction (NOAA 2014), and within the Van Duzen River Basin, the Yager Creek Subbasin most likely maintains the highest salmonid fisheries value, particularly concerning the presence and viability of Coho Salmon within the Lawrence Creek watershed. Anadromous salmonids found in the Van Duzen River basin include the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Coho Salmon (status: threatened); California Coastal (CC) Chinook Salmon (status: threatened); and Northern California Steelhead Trout (status: threatened); as well as cut-throat trout.
This off-channel habitat restoration project in the Lawrence Creek Sub-basin has been implemented in three phases.
• Phase 1 (Lawrence 1.0): In 2015 NOAA and the landowner, Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC), collaboratively designed and constructed ¼ acre pond (150’ x 45’). Approximately 2,000 cubic yards of sediment were removed to create two separate deep-water pools, with shallow edge-water habitat to provide a diversity of habitat types and conditions to maximize potential food resources and other ecosystem benefits. This project provided a valuable opportunity to learn more about off-channel pond design, construction and physical monitoring, fish utilization and overall project performance. After one-year post-construction, Coho Salmon and steelhead were found utilizing the habitat. The complex wood structures and willow plantings provided habitat diversity in the pond that allowed for increased macroinvertebrate production and utilization by northwestern salamanders and Pacific tree and red-legged frogs, as evidenced by egg masses observed on small wood and submerged willow plantings. • Phase 2 (Lawrence 2.0): In 2017, Trout Unlimited (TU) was awarded funds from the NOAA Restoration Center to expand on the work that occurred in 2015, and to complete two additional off-channel habitat restoration projects. In 2018, construction was completed on a second off-channel pond on Lawrence Creek (2.0), which restored hydrologic connectivity to 260’ of an unnamed tributary and enhanced the habitat through the excavation of a pond and alcove feature and placement of large wood. Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout have since been observed utilizing the pond feature year-round. Although the pond became hydrologically disconnected during the 2019 and 2020 summers, water quality conditions did not impact salmonid summer growth or survival. • Phase 3 (Lawrence 3.0): The final phase (III) of this project (Lawrence 3.0) is the final deliverable under the NOAA Restoration Center grant and is also being supported with FY21 NFHP project funding through the California Fish Passage Forum. The scope of this project is focused on providing ESA species access to historic floodplain habitats by enhancing and restoring hydrologic connectivity to an existing side channel habitat feature connected to Lawrence Creek that will provide shelter during intense storm events. Low-velocity refugia are important for reducing juvenile salmonid mortality during high-flow events. The project will create low-velocity winter refugia off-stream of Lawrence Creek and add shelter and complexity to the available aquatic habitat in the reach. The project was developed and designed following a collaborative public-private partnership between Trout Unlimited, Humboldt Redwood Company, Pacific Watershed Associates, and the Western Region NOAA/NMFS staff to capitalize on shared expertise, experience, and resources.
With an innovative Approach to Permitting, this project benefitted from streamlined permitting processes offered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Coho Habitat Enhancement Leading to Preservation (HELP) Act; Habitat Restoration Enhancement (HRE) Act), and the California State Water Resources Control Board (Clean Water Act Section 401 General Water Quality Certification for Small Habitat Restoration Projects (SHRP)). Projects eligible for coverage under these programs are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) due to the small project size and adherence to environmental protection measures, which combined do not result in significant impacts to environmental or cultural resources. These permits and approvals have a shorter review period (~ 60 days on average) than traditional permits and can help accelerate the implementation of restoration projects for the recovery of listed salmonids.
Benefits to Local Recreational and Tribal Fisheries The Lawrence Creek Off-Channel Restoration Project is located in the Eel River watershed, the third-largest watershed in California, and historically one of the state’s most productive rivers for anadromous salmonids. Today, the Eel River supports a year-round recreational sport fishery, and while it is especially known for winter steelhead fishing, there is also a recreational fall Chinook fishery. Sport fishing in the Eel River is subject to a low flow fishing closure each year beginning Oct 1.
Adult Chinook salmon and lamprey are an important cultural and nutritional food source for local Tribes. Despite historical landscape alterations, the Yager Creek subbasin contains some of the best potential for high-quality salmonid habitat in the Van Duzen River Basin (CDFW 2017). The overall goal of the recovery plans that helped guide this restoration is to have self-sustaining populations of salmon and steelhead trout. Restoring access to off-channel habitat in Lawrence Creek will help increase the survival rates of juvenile salmonids, increasing their likelihood to return to the sport fishery and Tribal harvests.
Project Timeline:
2015 - Lawrence Creek 1.0
2018 - Lawrence Creek 2.0
2021 - Lawrence Creek 3.0
Project Partners: Trout Unlimited (Project Lead) Humboldt Redwood Company NOAA Restoration Center NMFS West Coast Region Pacific Watershed Associates California Fish Passage Forum
Video:
This project was profiled in PBS’ Saving Species Together. The excerpt on Lawrence Creek project can be found here: https://www.netaonline.org/episode/saving-species-together
Monatiquot River, Massachusetts
For many years, the former mill industry along the Monatiquot River impacted historic herring runs and disconnected species from their spawning grounds. Now, the Armstrong Dam is the primary barrier to fish passage on the river. The dam no longer serves its original purpose and is also a public safety hazard. This project, led by the Town of Braintree, will remove the Armstrong Dam. There is also a concurrent project to remove the downstream Ames Pond Dam and install a pool-and-weir fishway around Rock Falls. When these projects are completed, 36 miles of unimpeded upstream access to 180 acres of river herring spawning habitat will be restored.
This project, led by the Town of Braintree, will remove the Armstrong Dam. There is also a concurrent project to remove the downstream Ames Pond Dam and install a pool-and-weir fishway around Rock Falls. When these projects are completed, 36 miles of unimpeded upstream access to 180 acres of river herring spawning habitat will be restored.
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This project will provide river herring access to spawning grounds, which have been blocked for centuries by dams. The subsequent increase in these forage fish should benefit recreational species such as striped bass and bluefish. The removal of the dam will also improve public safety by removing a flooding hazard.
Project Timeline: Construction completed September 2022
Project Partners:
Town of Braintree
NOAA Restoration Center
Hollingsworth Pond LLC
MA EEA MVP Program
MA Div. of Ecological Restoration
MA Div. of Marine Fisheries
Fore River Watershed Association
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
MA EEA Dam & Seawall Repair or Removal Grant Program
Maunalua Bay, Oahu
Purpose of the project:
Maunalua Bay is a semi-enclosed coastal waterbody located on the southeast shore of the island of Oahu. As one of the five largest embayments in the State of Hawaiʻi, it is home to a diverse variety of aquatic habitat types, including open coastal waters, a barrier reef, reef crest, extensive reef flats, and boat access channels. Many local residents have strong recreational, cultural, and commercial ties to the bay: the bayfront is lined with Hawaiian outrigger canoe clubs, a boat ramp, public parks, and commercial ocean recreation operations (SCUBA, jet ski, kayak, parasail, etc).
Over the last 20 years, three species of non-native invasive benthic marine algae have expanded to cover significant portions of the reef flat and interior of the bay (these are: gorilla ogo [Gracilaria Salicornia]; leather mudweed [Avrainvillea amadelpha]; and prickly seaweed [Acanthopora spicifera], all of which are troublesome invasives in Oahu coastal waters). These fast-growing non-native algae outcompete and overgrow naturally-occurring native seaweeds and seagrasses.
Since 2007, the local environmental non-profit Mālama Maunalua has sustained an effort to remove the invasive algae and restore native benthic communities through community engagement. Known as the Huki (Hawaiian meaning ‘to pull’) Program, Mālama Maunalua has organized and led thousands of volunteers to remove invasive algae and restore native benthic seaweed and seagrasses on over 28 acres of reef flat. The organization has removed over 3.5 million pounds of invasive algae, which has been donated to area farms to be used as organic fertilizer. Mālama Maunalua has also worked with leading researchers and research institutions to test new and innovative ways to remove invasive algae, while promoting the return of native species.
The Hawaiʻi Fish Habitat Partnership is providing federal financial assistance (FY19 NFHP funds via FWS cooperative agreement) to Mālama Maunalua to 1) support algae removal community volunteer events, 2) retain four student interns, 3) clear ten acres of invasive algae using community volunteers, 4) and conduct monitoring on previously- cleared reef flat areas including metrics to evaluate invasive algae, native algae/seagrass, and fish abundance.
The work is important in a number of ways. One, the native algae that are being outcompeted is an important cultural species to the native Hawaiian community. In addition to being necessary for specific cultural practices, it is also a common food source. Two, the invasive species that are most prevalent, leather mudweed, significantly alters the local environment. Due to urban development surrounding Maunalua Bay, sedimentation and pollution are major problems. Mudweed traps and contains the pollution and sediment in the near-shore, degrading water quality, further impacting native habitat, and making the area virtually unusable for cultural and recreational practices. Three, Maunalua Bay will be the site of a large-scale coral restoration effort in 2020/2021. Corals that have shown an ability to survive warming waters will be housed on a coral platform in the bay, then be fragmented and placed throughout the bay to facilitate reef growth that will survive warming waters. Invasive algae are a serious threat to the survivability of young corals, and therefore need to be maintained to allow for the corals to have a chance. The coral planting effort is the only one in the state utilizing community support and will be the largest such effort in state history.
All restoration work is rigorously studied to track changes in the benthic community and determine program effectiveness. The bay has been mapped into 10x10m plots, with each plot’s center point assigned GPS coordinates to ensure consistent and repeatable scientific study. In 2019, over 414 plots were assessed. Each Huki event takes place in one of the 10x10m plots, with the plot being studied immediately before the event, and reassessed immediately after to identify changes in benthic cover and species coverage.
Mālama Maunalua has a data set that goes back close to a decade, as well as having data from partner organizations and researchers.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Maunalua Bay is adjacent to the residential neighborhoods of Hawaiʻi Kai, Portlock, and Niu Valley, which are contiguous with urban Honolulu. Over 50,000 people live in the area. Because the shoreline and reef flat are easily accessible, Maunalua Bay supports a number of popular recreational fishing opportunities. Salt-water fly-fishing is popular, as is spin casting, bait fishing, and spearfishing for jacks, bonefish, goatfish, and other locally important recreational target species. Mālama Maunalua has fostered a very active and highly visible community-based restoration effort that engages student groups, community members, native Hawaiians, and the recreational community.
In 2019 alone, Mālama Maunalua’s Huki Program saw the following outcomes:
• 2,934 volunteers;
• 2,230 of the 2,934 volunteers were students/youth;
• 71 organizations partnered to volunteer at an event;
• 64 schools or youth groups attended events;
• Over 41,000 square meters of habitat was maintained and scientifically assessed;
• 66,918 pounds of invasive algae were removed;
• 21 youth between the ages of middle school and graduate school served as interns.
Each Huki event begins with a lesson on the importance of the work they are doing, the issues surrounding invasive species, the ecology of the bay and region, and lessons on species identification. Educational Huki - those targeted specifically towards youth - begin with various lessons relevant to conservation, history, and culture. The youth also often undertake scientific lessons to provide real-world experience to what they are learning in the classroom. Several schools have ‘adopted’ 10x10m plots to use for species identification, water quality lessons, ecological studies, and to maintain and study on their own. Several students were inspired by their work with Mālama Maunalua and tailored their school science fair experiments to what they had learned at a Huki.
Further, Kapi‘olani Community College, Hawai‘i Pacific University, and the University of Hawai‘i all partner with Mālama Maunalua and conduct various studies to aid in Mālama Maunalua’s work, and to provide real-world opportunities for their students to learn. Mālama Maunalua refers to the bay as a living lab, and the various students, youth, and schools that partner with the organization to utilize it as such demonstrate the truth in that description.
Project Timeline: October 2019 through September 2021
Economic Calculator results:
NFHAP Economic Impact Calculator
State: HI
Saltwater: Y
Administration/Technical
Services Expenditures: USD 71,130.00
Jobs: 1.344
Total Sales: USD 133,330.90 Value Added: USD 71,187.99 Income: USD 59,338.86
Partners:
(Funding partners:)
• Atherton Family Foundation
• Cooke Foundation
• Hawaiʻi Community Foundation
• Harold K. L. Castle Foundation
• Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority
• NOAA – Community-Based Restoration Program
• Omidyar Family Foundation
• City and County of Honolulu Grant-in-Aid
(Restoration partners:)
• Hawai‘i Pacific University
• Kapi‘olani Community College
• Niu Valley Middle School
• University of Hawai‘i
• Blue Zones Hawai‘i
• Lynker Technologies
• Kaiser High School
• Conservation International
• The Nature Conservancy
Tularosa River, New Mexico
Purpose of the project:
This multi-phased project aims to enhance 5.5 miles of riparian habitat and facilitate watershed and riparian restoration along the Tularosa River in New Mexico. This watershed provides habitat for a suite of native species, including Loach minnow (federally Endangered, New Mexico Species of Greatest Conservation Need (NMSGCN)), Sonora Sucker (Regional Forester Sensitive Species (RFSS), NMSGCN), Desert Sucker (RFSS, NMSGCN), Longfin dace, Speckled dace, Narrow-headed garter snake (federally Threatened, RFSS, NMSGCN), Arizona toad (RFSS, NMSGCN), Common Blackhawk (RFSS, NMSGCN), and Chiricahua leopard frog (federally Threatened, RFSS, NMSGCN). Much of the Tularosa River is already excluded from unauthorized cattle grazing except at approved water access points. However, additional exclusion fencing is needed to completely eliminate livestock access. Additionally, the area has a history of unauthorized motorized ATV/UTV use that installing fencing will also solve. To compensate for the loss of access to the river, a solar well will be installed to provide a non-potable water source to wildlife and livestock. This well, in conjunction with the riparian fencing, will eliminate the need for livestock to enter the perennial Tularosa River at approved water access points where currently riparian vegetation is trampled and there is an excessive input of nutrients/waste. This will restore vegetation within the riparian area thus reducing siltation and improve cover and water temperature within the river. This ultimately results in improved habitat quality for native fish and other riparian species.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Tularosa River Restoration and Protection project is located in the Gila National Forest. Year-round recreation abounds in the forested hills, mountains, and rangeland of the Gila National Forest from hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, and more. Within the Gila National Forest are three Wilderness areas, including the Gila Wilderness, which was designated as the world’s first Wilderness in 1924.
This project is part of a larger riparian restoration project along the Tularosa River in Catron County, NM. The Catron County Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) students have been assisting with the installation of fences and will continue to help in the future with riparian willow planting. The YCC students have learned why the project was being implemented and the benefits to motor vehicle compliance, livestock grazing on Forest Service lands, and riparian species and habitat protection.
Once this project is complete, it will be submitted to the Forest Service Regional Office as a Show and Shine project that will highlight activities and accomplishments and can be distributed to the public and members of Congress as a success story.
Project Timeline:
Phase I of this project which included initial fence installation was completed in September 2019. Phase II which includes well installation and the remainder of fencing is scheduled to be completed by September 2020.
Partners:
This project was funded and supported by the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, the U.S. Forest Service, Deep Canyon Allotment permittees and ranch managers, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico Environment Department, and the New Mexico Water Trust board. Future partners to be included are Trout Unlimited, San Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Reserve School to help implement riparian planting.
Shoshone Spring Stream Flow and Brook Reconstruction, California (Retrospective)
Purpose of the project:
The Shoshone pupfish is one of the most imperiled species in the Death Valley region due to their natural rarity, historic disruption of their habitat, only one remaining wild population, and genetic consequences of small population size. From 2012-2014, extensive habitat work at Shoshone Spring, including pond construction and nonnative vegetation removal, tripled the number of ponds that Shoshone pupfish occupy, representing a nearly 100-fold increase in habitat area (25m2 to 2400m2).
Despite this massive success, more restoration actions are necessary to increase the habitat occupied by Shoshone pupfish. Currently, the outflow of Shoshone Spring runs in a steep-sided, constructed linear ditch which is choked with cattails. In this condition, the channel does not support Shoshone pupfish. In addition, flow onto the Amargosa River floodplain is impeded by the encroaching vegetation, depriving both aquatic habitats and mesquite bosque of an adequate water supply. This project aims to resolve both of these issues by reconstructing and relocating the channel to eliminate cattails, provide more efficient water conveyance, and create a more open water habitat for Shoshone pupfish. The existing ditch would be filled and recontoured to match the surrounding floodplain, and the newly relocated channel would be created with both sinuosity and a narrow floodplain to support wetland vegetation. The creation of this additional habitat downstream from Shoshone Spring is necessary to secure the existence of the Shoshone pupfish in their native range.
The long-term extinction risk of the Shoshone pupfish by a catastrophic event, by nonnative competitors or predators, or through reduced genetic variation stemming from a small population size will be greatly reduced by expanding their range into the Shoshone wetlands, an area that historically was populated by the pupfish until 2004.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Shoshone Spring and the adjacent wetlands are on the Shoshone Village property which is actively and intentionally transitioning from a mining economy to one based on ecotourism. The initial restoration project opened a pond to public viewing, giving tourists the opportunity to see the Shoshone pupfish. The current restoration of the spring brook will only increase opportunities for the public to view these charismatic fish. The increase in native wetland vegetation will provide habitat for riparian birds, waterfowl, neotropical migrant birds, including the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo. The Nature Conservancy is a project partner and is providing stream-design consultation particularly as it pertains to maintaining and promoting the current Least Bell’s Vireo population. Shoshone Village provides numerous opportunities for recreation including hiking, cycling, camping, birding, photography, guided walks, and, in the future, Jeep Eco tours. Shoshone Village is also the perfect base camp in which tourists can explore the fascinating geology and scenery of the surrounding Amargosa and Death Valley region.
Project Timeline:
The initial restoration project was completed in 2014. The Shoshone Spring Stream Flow and Brook Reconstruction project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020.
Economic Calculator results:
Current Shoshone Spring Stream Flow and Brook Reconstruction:
Jobs: 0.966
Total Sales: $106,776.40
Value Added: $64,873.09
Income: $51,862.69
Overall habitat restoration work (Past project plus current work):
Jobs: 1.474
Total Sales: $164,784.83
Value Added: $99,760.07
Income: $78,299.23
Partners:
This project was funded and supported by the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, Shoshone Development Corporation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and The Nature Conservancy.
San Luis Obispo Creek, California
Purpose of the project:
Pacific Lamprey were once prolific throughout their historical range which stretched from Alaska to northern Baja California. Over time their numbers have significantly declined in abundance and distribution, creating ripple effects to the ecological connections they have with other iconic species and the aquatic habitats we all depend on. Despite being considered the southernmost boundary of the Pacific Lamprey’s distribution, San Luis Obispo Creek boasted a healthy lamprey population when surveyed by biologists from US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Western Fishes in 2004. Unfortunately, a return visit in 2011 resulted in the realization that the population had been extirpated, and a collaborative effort was initiated to answer the questions of why, and whether the population could be revitalized.
Following an enthusiastically attended public presentation and discussion at the local library, the Central California Coast Lamprey Working Group (consisting of California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), City of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Land Conservancy, Western Fishes, and USFWS) was formed with the mission of returning lamprey to San Luis Obispo Creek. Ultimately the cause of the disappearance of Pacific Lamprey in the creek was determined to be the 2006 installation of a tidal weir at the bottom of the drainage. The weir was intended to enhance passage for endangered steelhead, but its design resulted in a complete barrier for lamprey.
In 2013, the working group designed and installed an innovative and economical solution made from reclaimed materials – a curved piece of metal placed over the weir affectionately called a “lamp ramp”, and costing less than $315. It took a few years, but finally, in 2017 local observers reported adult Pacific Lamprey building nests in the creek, indicating that the population had recolonized without the need of human facilitated reintroduction. Not only did this natural recolonization save valuable resources in terms of time and money, it also indicated that removing barriers could open the door to natural recolonization in other watersheds, and potentially those where Pacific Lamprey have been absent for generations.
To explore this further, in 2018 the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative (PLCI) contributed NFHP funding to support an assessment by Western Fishes and USFWS of habitats in coastal drainages in the southern extent of the historical distribution of Pacific Lamprey, and a consideration of suitable approaches to reestablishing their populations through either active intervention or natural processes.
In addition to the natural recolonization of San Luis Obispo Creek, the assessment also considered the recolonization of the Carmel River following the removal of the San Clemente Dam (located north of San Luis Obispo, and also in the California South Central Coast Regional Management Unit), and recent observations of Pacific Lamprey in other coastal rivers in southern California. The resulting findings indicate that Pacific Lamprey can return to coastal drainages that they were previously extirpated from, and reestablish viable populations, without active reintroduction efforts. This underscores the importance of focused conservation efforts that identify and address barriers and other factors that may have led to the loss of the species in order to facilitate natural recolonization.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
This project and the successful return of Pacific Lamprey to San Luis Obispo Creek have sparked new local interest in the species. The working group plans to continue monitoring the return of Pacific Lamprey to San Luis Obispo Creek using a novel video monitoring system installed at the weir in December 2019. Within a few weeks of installation, lampreys were recorded making their way into the creek. With help from the California Conservation Corps’ Watershed Stewards Program, City biologists will also monitor adult lamprey returns and where they build their nests (also known as redds).
The City of San Luis Obispo is also partnering with California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) to study the ecological niche that lamprey fill in the stream system, including their potential to reduce pathogens in the creek.
The Central Coast Lamprey Working Group and other partners in the region are working together to better understand how and why Pacific Lamprey return, and explore how lessons learned in from this project can be implemented to assist in recovery efforts throughout the historical range of Pacific Lamprey.
Project Timeline:
2004 – Surveyed by Goodman (USFWS) and Reid (Western Fishes) and lamprey were readily encountered.
2006 – Marre Weir modified to provide steelhead passage.
2011 – Goodman and Reid surveyed the drainage and lampreys were absent. The first meeting of the working group. Identified the passage issue at Marre Weir.
2012 - 2016 – Annual surveys of the drainage with no detections of lampreys. Annual meetings of the working group.
2013 – Working group designed and installed a lamprey passage structure.
2017 – Lamprey naturally recolonized the drainage.
2017 - Ongoing – Annual monitoring of the population to track distribution, growth, reproductive timing, relative abundance, and more. Annual working group meetings.
2019 - Ongoing – installation of a lamprey specific video monitoring system tracking passage by the Marre Weir.
Economic Calculator results:
Jobs: 0.3006
Total Sales: USD 32,298.35
Value Added: USD 17,641.38
Income: USD 13,898.90
Partners:
The following partners have provided support for the development, implementation, and/or funding of this effort:
• California Conservation Corps’ Watershed Stewards Program
• California Department of Fish & Wildlife
• California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)
• City of San Luis Obispo
• Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative
• San Luis Obispo Land Conservancy
• United Water District
• US Fish & Wildlife Service
• US Forest Service
• Western Fishes
San Juan and Santiago Watersheds, California
Purpose of the project:
Removing dams and other barriers to passage in the coastal rivers of southern California is one of the most important and effective ways to aid in the recovery of endangered Southern California Steelhead (SCS) trout and other threatened species like the Arroyo chub and Arroyo toad. Removing these dams provides benefits up and downstream of the removal site. Barrier remediation improves access to spawning and rearing habitat and restores gravel and sediment transport downstream. Restoring sediment transport has long-range benefits of increasing habitat quality and facilitating sediment transport to beaches and estuaries to prevent coastal erosion. These key ecosystem services far outweigh the relatively low cost of removing these dams and barriers, for example, the headwaters of Trabuco Creek contain high-quality spawning and rearing habitat for endangered Southern Steelhead, so removing these small dams is an important step in preparing for steelhead migration to this habitat upon removal of two large fish passage barriers in the lower watershed. These downstream total barriers at the Metrolink and Interstate-5 bridge arrays are in advanced design for remediation as technical fish passage solutions and are located close together on lower Trabuco Creek, the largest tributary to San Juan Creek in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County. This coast-to-headwaters approach to restoration not only implements the federal recovery plan for endangered Southern steelhead but provides community benefits that exemplify the power of fish habitat partnerships.
Trabuco District Dam Removal Project
In 2014, the Cleveland National Forest (CNF) initiated an effort to restore the migratory corridors for fish and other aquatic species in the San Juan and Santiago Watersheds by removing the remnants of small (approximately 2 – 15 ft) dams constructed by Orange County (California) between 1940-70s. These dams were originally built to create pools for a stocked rainbow trout fishery and recreational use. However, in addition to restricting passage to aquatic species and degrading habitat, many also pose potential public safety hazards to flooding during flashy high flow events that are often associated with rain events in the region.
This project, known as the Trabuco District Dam Removal Project, focuses on four creeks (Silverado, Holy Jim, Trabuco, and San Juan) and has nearly completed the removal of 81 check dams. This project will also remove or replace four impassable road crossings on forest lands. The project spans stream segments totaling approximately 4.75 miles and is being carried out in phases along each stream to limit downstream impacts from sediment release and/or risk to infrastructure integrity. Depending on site location and accessibility, CNF is using a variety of methods, some traditional such as utilizing hand crews, pneumatic or gas-powered drills, and jackhammers, as well as some more creative approaches such as using a specialized Walking/Spider excavator sites with limited access, or tapping into the explosives expertise (and available manpower) from the US Marine Corps (USMC) located at neighboring Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
The CNF’s innovative approach to this project is not limited to the methods of dam removal, but also in how they approached the environmental permitting process. CNF was able to streamline the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance process for this project. Taking a watershed-scale approach and evaluating all 81 of these small dam removals in one environmental assessment (EA) allowed for a quicker and cost-efficient review, and allowed for flexibility in the timing and methods of removals. This programmatic approach to permitting has the potential to be replicated by other projects, and ultimately lead to more dams being removed more quickly, and increasing access to additional and higher quality habitat.
Monitoring Small Dam Removal Effectiveness in Southern California
In 2014, a study was initiated by NOAA (Restoration Center) in collaboration with USFS and other partners including the California Conservation Corps’ Veterans Corps Fisheries Program, California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), University of California Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, US Forest Service (USFS), Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), and the California Fish Passage Forum (via support from NFHP and AFWA from a Multi-State Conservation Grant) to monitor the effectiveness of small dam removals in the region. This study was integrated into the Trabuco District Dam Removal Project, in response to a recognized gap in the scientific literature pertaining to dam removal knowledge in Southern California to support endangered steelhead recovery, The study continued through 2019 and analyzed the impacts on steelhead habitat under a range of regulatory and climatic conditions (fire, drought, and flood - all of which occurred during the study period) in three priority steelhead watersheds in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties (the later included monitoring of dams being removed as part of the Trabuco District Dam Removal Project in the San Juan Watershed).
The study captured pre-dam removal data to better understand the influences of sediment released by a small dam on streambed morphology under differing regulatory constraints throughout Southern California, employing cost-effective long-standing methodologies to:
• Understand the hydrologic context Southern California streams face under extended drought conditions;
• Examine elevation change in streambeds after dam removal to understand its influence in changing habitat features;
• Evaluate stream substrate quality in response to small dam removal.
This study illustrates the value of pre-dam removal data. Utilizing baseline pre-dam removal data, the conclusion that a cyclical pattern of sedimentation and infilling occurred under drought conditions (2014-2016) was supported, in favor of an alternate explanation that this sedimentation deposition in later years was due solely to dam removal. Thus, this study demonstrated an important phenomenon in stream restoration ecology that sediment quality improved immediately after dam removal with flushing of fine sediment (even under drought conditions) for improved habitat quality for aquatic species.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Removing small, often obsolete, dams like these not only benefit fish and aquatic habitat and increases resiliency, but also helps ensure public safety by reducing potential flooding hazards.
Each of these projects demonstrated innovative collaborations between partners, such as the CNF’s collaboration with the USMC during implementation to utilize their unique expertise using explosives to remove some of these small dams, and other partners in a post-dam removal assessment. This project is also part of the broader South Coast Steelhead Coalition effort, led by CalTrout in partnership with Trout Unlimited, which brings together >35 federal, state, local agencies, tribal nations and environmental groups to implement steelhead recovery and community benefit projects in the four highest priority rivers in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties, such as San Juan Creek.
Project Timeline:
2014 – CNF initiated work removing small dams in the San Juan and Santiago Watersheds.
2014 – Monitoring by NOAA/California Conservation Corps Veterans Corps and PSMFC of small dam removal effectiveness began
2019 – As of September 2019, 71 dams had already been removed or remediated
2020 - The CNF plans to complete the project by removing dams in Holy Jim Canyon (once again working with the US Marine Corps), as well as continuing work with their Spider Excavator contractor in Trabuco Canyon.
Economic Calculator results*:
Jobs: 0.7517
Total Sales: USD 80,457.13
Value Added: USD 43,822.14
Income: USD 34,683.54
*for Small Dams Effectiveness Monitoring Project only
Partners:
The development, implementation and/or funding of both of these efforts has been supported by the following partners:
• American Conservation Experience
• NOAA/California Conservation Corps Veterans Corps Fisheries Program
• California Department of Fish & Wildlife
• California Fish Passage Forum
• Caltrans
• Federal Highway Administration
• National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center
• Orange County Parks
• Orange County Transportation Authority
• Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
• US Fish & Wildlife Service
• US Forest Service (Cleveland National Forest – Trabuco Ranger District)
• US Marine Corps
• University of California Los Angeles
• University of California Santa Barbara
Minsi Lake, Pennsylvania
Purpose of the project:
Minsi Lake was created for public fishing and boating by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) in 1970 and as one of only two public lakes in Northampton County, is popular with anglers from across the region. Minsi Lake is located in eastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, the fastest growing and third most populous region in the state of Pennsylvania, with a population of nearly 822,000 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. In 1975, the 117-acre lake and surrounding 194 acres of woodlands that are owned by PFBC were leased to Northampton County as part of the county’s park system; an amended version of that lease continues to the present day. The 311-acres of woods and waters is called Minsi Lake Park.
In May 2017, PFBC drained Minsi Lake in preparation for a $4 million, two-year-long dam rehabilitation and spillway reconstruction project, which is scheduled to begin in late 2017; the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had deemed the dam and spillway structurally deficient. At that same time, NorCor Parks collaborated with PFBC as an official cooperator in the agencies Cooperative Habitat Improvement Program (CHIP) to take advantage of this rare opportunity to address the limited littoral structure and excessive shallowness impairments at Minsi Lake during its complete drawdown. On June 28, 2017, PFBC’s Division of Habitat Management’s Lake Section physically surveyed the empty lakebed, documenting its existing conditions, including its habitat and excessive shallowness impairments. The survey revealed that about 75 acres of the 117-acre lake basin are lacking adequate fish habitat. The agency subsequently developed a Five-Year Fish Habitat Management Project Plan as part of its CHIP Project with NorCo Parks and Northampton County Junior Conservation School (NCJCS).
Project deliverables included:
1. 510 Rock Rubble Humps to provide forage habitat for invertebrates, crustaceans, and baitfish;
2. 200 Porcupine Cribs to provide refuge habitat for and improve recruitment of sunfish, bass and other gamefish;
3. 45 Rock Stars to provide forage habitat for invertebrates, baitfish and sunfish;
4. 40 Spider Humps to provide forage habitat for invertebrates and a diversity of bait and game fish, as well as forage and ambush cover for bass and sunfish;
5. 27 Post Clusters to provide cover for game and sunfish and ambush cover for bass;
6. 12 Post Stumps to provide cover for game and sunfish and ambush cover for bass;
7. 10 Turtle Basking Platforms;
8. 10 Felled Trees cabled to the shoreline and provide excellent habitat for game and sunfish in a variety of ways, i.e., spawning, recruitment, foraging and refuge cover
9. 7 Rock Famed Deflectors to provide about 200 linear feet of armoring against shoreline wind and wave erosion, enhancement of aquatic microhabitats, and provide ready access for anglers to fish from a solid rocky shoreline.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Northampton County Junior Conservation School recently established Friends of Minsi Lake (FOML) as a standing committee to chart the course and provide the resources necessary to enhance the natural and recreational assets throughout the Minsi Lake area, including the Minsi Lake Cooperative Habitat Improvement Project with PFBC. The friend’s group includes representatives from eight organizations and an at-large committee member, who represents the public with FOML, occupies a ninth seat on the committee. FOML’s mission is to support Minsi Lake and improve the area’s conservation value, encourage economic development, and enhance recreational opportunities for everyone who lives, works, and plays in Northampton County.
To that end, Friends of Minsi Lake is the face and vehicle for public outreach, education, fundraising, and community involvement in the Minsi Lake Habitat Improvement Project. The group’s public outreach subcommittee developed a 30-minute illustrated PowerPoint program and associated digital and print material about the project and presented to the local community, youth and civic organizations i.e., sportsmen’s clubs, watershed organizations, Scouting groups and Lions Clubs. A FOML Facebook site was developed and within five days of launching, over 1,000 people saw it and nearly 200 began following. The outreach objective is to raise public awareness and enthusiasm for the project; educate about the ecological, economic, societal and recreational values and benefits of a healthy Minsi Lake, it’s watershed and surrounding parklands and greenways; encourage and recruit community involvement with the habitat improvement project, and raise awareness and money for the comprehensive park rehabilitation.
The Minsi Lake Habitat Improvement Project received the 2019 Lehigh Valley Award for Environmental Project and subsequently received a Certificate of Recognition from Senator Mario Scavello of the 40th Pennsylvania State Senate District.
Project Timeline: Start Date: June 1, 2018; End Date: July 2019
Economic Calculator results: $30,000 NFHP funding: Partner Contribution: Cash $64,370; In-kind: $87,019
Jobs: 3.5362
Total Sales:USD $308,305.24
Value Added:USD $167,221.90
Income:USD $118,557.20
Partners: Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Northampton County, Northampton County Junior Conservation School, Martins-Jacoby Watershed Association, Sun Belt Rising, Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living, Penn State Extension-Master Watershed Steward Program, Watershed Coalition of Lehigh Valley, Local Boy and Girl Scout Troups, The H&K Group, Wildlands Conservancy
YouTube Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0woldAqcv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjv3rDRwn0I
Chronolog Photo Timelapse:
https://www.chronolog.io/site/NCP101
Deep Creek - Town Diversion Fish Passage, Oregon (Retrospective)
Purpose of the project:
Restoring fish passage for Warner Lakes Redband Trout (State and Federal Sensitive species) and Warner Sucker (Endangered Species Act Threatened species) is the focus of this project. The primary limiting factor for fish in the Warner Valley Watershed (Oregon) is the passage at irrigation diversion structures, especially on Deep and Honey Creeks. Limited water in the eastern Oregon desert means that Warner Basin streams are a critical water source to both irrigators and native fish. Several Warner Basin streams provide both irrigation water critical to local ranches, and spawning, rearing, and migratory habitat for Warner Basin Redband Trout, Warner sucker, and other native fishes. The low-lying portion of the Warner Basin provides the most fertile agricultural land in the area, as well as stream reaches critical to fish migrating from the large lakes in the valley upstream to high-quality spawning and rearing habitats. More than 10 diversions exist in the lower basin that provides water to irrigators and have been identified as fish passage barriers. The diversions make it impossible for large fish that rear in the Warner Lakes to access the prime spawning grounds in the upper basin on lands primarily administered by the Lakeview Bureau of Land Management and the Fremont Winema National Forest.
The Deep Creek -Town Diversion Project addressed fish passage on Deep Creek. The Town Diversion on Deep Creek was a complete upstream fish passage barrier due to the vertical height of the irrigation weir relative to the channel elevation downstream from the weir. The diversion was reconstructed with a rock ramp fishway designed to restore natural streambed conditions and provide passage for all native fish over the irrigation structure. The goal of the Town Diversion Fish Passage Project is to provide volitional passage for these two species, as well as other native fish species inhabiting lower Deep Creek. Passage at the Town Diversion will expand the amount of spawning, rearing, and holding habitat available to the Deep Creek fish community; increase population connectivity, and provide access to deep cold-water pools that provide summer refuge.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: For the last decade, the Warner Basin Aquatic Habitat Partnership (WBAHP) has both independently and collaboratively worked to restore passage and connectivity for aquatic species in the Warner Basin, specifically the Warner Lakes Redband Trout (state sensitive, federal species of concern) and the Warner sucker (ESA Threatened species). While each organization’s role has been slightly different, (for instance, monitoring, planning, outreach, or implementation) the vision was always the same: species recovery. The key to bringing this vision together is building and maintaining relationships with the local ranching community of Adel and Plush, Oregon. Agriculturally based, the Warner Basin is primarily managed to produce hay and raise beef cattle. Water is critical to both agriculture and fish habitat in the basin. Irrigation diversions and ditches have been identified as a primary threat to fish recovery in the basin. In the past five years, the Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, Soil and Water Conservation District, and their partners have tirelessly worked to improve these relationships by attending monthly water meetings and collaborating on ideas to put restoration actions on the ground.
The goal of the Warner Basin projects is to execute a watershed scale restoration program over seven years that will lead to the delisting of Warner Lakes Redband Trout and Warner sucker populations in the Warner Basin in eastern Oregon. Objectives to achieve the project goal include implementing fish passage solutions at irrigation diversions, screening irrigation diversion intakes, enhancing stream corridor habitats in Deep Creek and Honey Creek and developing a watershed scale restoration approach in collaboration with landowners and diverse interest groups. Within Deep Creek, there are 25 water users and landowners that this project will directly benefit.
Deep Creek Town Diversion implementation begins this larger watershed-scale approach to implement fish passage projects at 10 water diversions to open 90 stream miles in the Warner Basin by 2025. In 2019, a Focused Investment Partnership grant through the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board was awarded to the WBAHP to address the remaining 10 fish passage barriers found in Deep and Honey Creeks. The Deep Creek Town Diversion project led the way for these remaining barriers to be addressed. The project includes 10 high priority structures to be re-designed/replaced over a six-year period for a total cost of $10.2 million, that will start from the lower stream basin and work upstream until all barriers have been re-designed for fish passage, screening, and efficient water diversion for irrigators.
Project Timeline:
The survey, concept designs, a project alternatives analysis, and final design were completed by River Design Group, Inc. in 2018.
Bid document preparation and bid tours were conducted to select a construction contractor to install the rock ramp fishway for passage of focal species, Warner sucker, and Warner Lakes Redband Trout.
Project construction was completed in two phases.
Phase I: In February of 2019, the existing concrete headwall and associated diversion headgates and forebay (i.e., headworks) to the diversion canal were replaced. The existing headworks were degraded due to concrete spalling. Replacing this headworks has provided safety and efficiency to the diversion operation. The irrigation structure required design modifications and retrofitting to accommodate the new rock ramp fishway.
Phase 2: In November of 2019 the existing weir was enhanced with a 250 ft-long rock ramp that joined the existing northern diversion weir crest. The modified weir forms a defined vertical boundary that joins the rock ramp allowing for the goal of fish passage upstream. At this time a 100 ft concrete sluiceway was also constructed for sediment and debris flushing that occurs during high flow events.
Economic Calculator results:
Jobs: 8.9957
Total Sales: USD 858,310.06
Value Added: USD 529,099.31
Income: USD 366,753.38
Partners:
Warner Basin Aquatic Habitat Partnership
Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council
Bureau of Land Management, Lakeview
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Partners Program
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Lakeview Soil and Water Conservation District
Fremont Winema National Forest
Adel Water District
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
Western Native Trout Initiative
Partners in the Warner Basin released a short video entitled “Warner Basin Aquatic Habitat Partnership” that highlights the partners and native species that make this project unique.
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnVPaQfcsd4&t=16s
Chipola River, Florida (Retrospective)
Purpose of the project:
Restoration, Reduce sedimentation, increase water quantity, reduce nutrients and fecal coliform, increase the riparian buffer, and connectivity. The initial project that was nominated a Waters to Watch in 2013 where 1.9 miles of stream bank was enhanced and protected through the removal of livestock from the river, restoration of eroded streambanks, riparian zone planting, and the replacement of a perched culvert. These actions together reduced sedimentation and direct trampling and nutrient inputs to sensitive shoal bass spawning habitat and critical habitat for federally listed mussels. The Chipola River restoration project was funded through a diverse number of sources including NFHP funding, which was matched with funding secured from NFWF, FWC, NRCS, and the landowner. Not only did this project provide a much needed ecological lift for this portion of the river, but it also brought together partners that continue to work together to increase their collective conservation footprint.
Since completion of the initial project, existing and new partners have continued to work across the Chipola River basin to improve aquatic systems through watershed-scale actions. Partners working toward the common goal of improving aquatic conditions in the Chipola River basin include: University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension (UF/IFAS), Northwest Florida’s Water Management District (NWFL WMD), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Florida’s Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), United States Forest Service (USFS) and numerous landowners across the geography. Collectively, partners have implemented best management practices across 13,777 acres of agricultural lands in the Chipola. These efforts resulted in over 74 acres of riparian habitat have been protected, 2.5 miles of stream bank enhanced, 4.8 miles of fencing installed 1 barrier removed, 3 low water crossings installed and 153,557,283 gallons of water conserved.
These efforts have continued to foster existing partnerships and develop new partnerships leading to many funding partners contributing to the larger goal. These funds primarily support on the ground restoration projects but also supports a coordinator that works across the basin to connect these efforts together and build capacity working among our partners.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: The Chipola River is a popular river frequented by locals and tourists as the spring-fed system remains cool refugia during the summer months. Working with landowners to fence out cattle from the river and reduce sedimentation has increased the overall enjoyment by seeing clearer waters and not having to maneuver around livestock in the river. Additional upland work has focused on reducing nutrient leaching into the groundwater through water conservation measures on agricultural lands. The Chipola River is characteristically karst with multiple springs throughout the system with many of these spring systems becoming popular recreational areas. Many of these spring systems had to be closed during portions of the summer due to algal blooms, which was attributed to increases in nutrients. These efforts undertaken by our partners and aligned with much of our work has resulted in significant reductions in nutrient concentrations in many of these systems, which has allowed continual enjoyment of these recreational areas by the public and increased survival of aquatic biota dependent on healthy systems.
Project Timeline: Initially finished in 2015. Continual work is ongoing with funding for specific practices secured until 2021.
Partners: University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension (UF/IFAS), Northwest Florida’s Water Management District (NWFL WMD), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Florida’s Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), United States Forest Service (USFS) and numerous landowners across the geography
Video:
Boone River Watershed, Iowa (Retrospective)
The Oxbow Restoration Project within the Boone River Watershed (BRW) includes the Headwaters of the Boone, Prairie, Otter, Eagle, and White Fox Creeks (Kossuth, Hancock, Humboldt, Wright, and Hamilton Counties) in north-central Iowa. The BRW is a Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) watershed and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has designated the lower 26 miles as a “Protected Water Area.” The first oxbow was restored in 2011 with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IA DNR), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Fishers & Farmers. Since then, Fishers & Farmers have helped fund 12 oxbows, and almost 30 have been completed with all of the partners.
Purpose of the project:
Current and past land-use practices in the Boone River Watershed have affected both stream hydrology and hydraulics. As a result, these effects have degraded and fragmented oxbow habitat and have caused impairments to water quality. Fishers & Farmers partners are working together with landowners to restore oxbow habitat critical to the federally listed endangered species, Topeka shiner (Notropis Topeka). Topeka shiners use oxbows as primary spawning grounds and nursery areas. In addition, aquatic invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds also benefit from oxbows to sustain or complete their life histories. Restored oxbows provide natural hydrology by connecting streams with their floodplains, help hold sediment, and provide “filters” to improve water quality. This project will work to create landowner awareness of the Fishers & Farmers Partnership and their partners, provide technical assistance, and educate landowners on the benefits of oxbows to their farm, fish, and wildlife. Furthermore, this is a feasible practice for producers within a constrained landscape as it does not take land out of production. This project meets the National Fish Habitat Partnership’s (NFHP) strategies of reconnecting fragmented streams and reducing sediment and nutrient loading to the stream. Finally, the oxbow restoration project area has qualified for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Fish Passage funding for stream connectivity purposes to expand available fish habitats important to all species inhabiting area streams.
During construction equipment is used in the winter to excavate soil down to the historic riverbed depth and then re-slope and re-seed the banks with native prairie grasses. Topeka shiners are not present in the oxbows during construction. The average surface area of an oxbow is about 0.25 ac. Oxbows are in wet floodplains of nearby streams or creeks and reconnect during floods. Restored oxbows provide habitat for other fish, aquatic invertebrates, waterfowl, amphibians, and reptiles. The land is not taken out of production for these projects so it’s a win-win for both farmers and biologists.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
• Restored oxbows can remove an estimated 45-90% of nitrate from intercepted tile water, which decreases nitrate in the Boone and the Des Moines River which is the source of drinking water for Des Moines, IA.
• Each one-acre oxbow provides an estimated one million gallons of floodwater storage each year and helps restore the natural hydrology.
• Oxbows provide critical habitat for the rare and endangered Topeka shiner minnow.
• Habitat for thousands of fish representing 40 species have utilized restored oxbow habitat.
• The Audubon and partners have identified 54 species of birds at restored oxbows, many of them waterfowl or shorebirds, some oxbows could provide more hunting experiences.
• Aquatic invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds also benefit from oxbows to sustain or complete their life histories, many of these species provide ecosystem services that we may not even completely understand yet.
• Oxbows are a win-win because they don’t take land out of production for the farmer and they provide fish and wildlife habitat and benefits for the community.
Project Timeline:
In 2009-2011, TNC, Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), IA DNR, Iowa State University (ISU), and FWS, assessed the quantity and quality of nonfunctioning oxbow habitat present in four Boone River tributary watersheds. In the assessment, more than 150 potential oxbow restoration sites were identified. IA DNR, TNC, and Fishers & Farmers selected an oxbow on White Fox Creek for the first restoration in 2010. Information collected was used for long-term planning efforts and to reach and educate farmers in the BRW. Since then, the Fishers & Farmers Partnership, through the NFHP – FWS Fisheries Program, has funded 12 oxbows, which includes 5.6 acres of oxbows. The acreage doesn’t sound all that impressive, but remember Topeka shiners are minnows! In addition, some of these oxbows also intercept tile water from hundreds of acres and provide a water quality benefit that impacts drinking water.
NFHP funding for oxbows occurred in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and a proposal for 2020 funding. Fishers & Farmers, TNC, IA DNR, ISA, and partners are committed to funding not only the current oxbows being restored but also additional projects outside of NFHP. Partners are also working on soil health practices such as cover crops, reduced tillage, rotational grazing, and other farming practices that impact fish habitat. Fishers & Farmers Partnership is dedicated to working on projects long-term in order to show measurable success at both project and basin scales.
Partners:
Coca-Cola Foundation, Hamilton and Wright Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Geological Survey, Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa State University, Landowners, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Sand County Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and USFWS Ecological Services, Fisheries, & Private Lands (Region 3), Wells Fargo.
TNC has completed a Conservation Action Plan for the BRW basin. ISU has completed a Boone River Rapid Watershed Assessment, including multiple stakeholder meetings and a report identifying physical watershed attributes resource priorities and capabilities. A Water Quality Improvement Plan (Total Maximum Daily Load) was written in 2009 to address nitrate impairment in Des Moines River, in which the BRW basin is located. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was used to evaluate pollutant loading patterns in three project sub-watersheds. Iowa Soybean Association facilitated and wrote area-wide plans for three of the project watersheds. The BRW is a Mississippi River Basin Initiative watershed; MRBI is a USDA initiative supporting agricultural practices that reduce nutrient and sediment leaving the land. Several oxbow studies are currently happening with ISU, Iowa Geological Survey, ISA, TNC, and partners on water quality and how best to construct an oxbow. They are currently working on an Index of Biotic Integrity for oxbows.
The BRW project is working to bring in new partners. When the first oxbow was funded, on Jake Peterson’s farm, there was just a handful of federal, state, county, and agricultural partners, however now almost 20 partners are participating. With the help of all these partners, almost 30 oxbows have been restored. Fishers and Farmers Partnership has learned that it takes one consistent dedicated partner such as Karen Wilke (TNC) to drive conservation in a watershed. Having multiple partners trying to lead usually ends up in landowner confusion and project failure. Karen works with both natural resources and agricultural organizations like the Iowa Soybean Association and SWCD’s so that everyone is working on the priorities of water quality and fish and wildlife habitats together. Because of her work with the partners, the past five years, oxbows were finally added to the list of nitrate removing practices in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and have the potential to receive more state funding.
Bear River Estuary, Washington (Retrospective)
Purpose of the project:
The goal of the Bear River Estuary Restoration was to rebuild a healthy, functioning natural estuary for anadromous fish including chum, coho, and Chinook salmon and cutthroat trout; migratory waterfowl and shorebirds; and to contribute to the overall health of Willapa Bay. This 500-acre restoration supports local watershed and salmon recovery efforts, migratory bird management and helps to increase the resiliency of Willapa Bay to sea-level rise.
Background:
When non-Indian settlers first arrived in the region, Willapa Bay comprised 14,620 acres of saltwater wetlands. Now there are 5,277 acres. This represents a 64% loss of estuarine wetlands (Coastal Resources Alliance 2007). Estuarine wetland loss has been particularly extensive in the Bear River estuary, primarily due to diking and draining of shallow water nearshore areas. The salmon recovery strategies of each of the Lead Entity groups in the Coast Region make it clear that problems for salmon caused by shoreline modification, such as diking and armoring, are top priorities to address (WCSSP 2012). The removal of existing dikes and re-establishment of estuarine rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids was identified as a high priority in the Pacific County (WRIA 24) Strategic Salmon Recovery Plan (Applied Environmental Services 2001). The protection and restoration of estuarine and nearshore habitats were also cited as major ecoregional recovery goals in the Pacific Northwest Coast Ecoregional Assessment (TNC and WDFW 2006), the Northern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Management Plan (Drut and Buchanan 2000), and Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership Strategic Framework 2012–2017 (PMEP 2012).
Historically chum salmon were the most dominant in Willapa Bay, 65% of the total run. This is reflective of our habitat in Willapa Bay’s 745 salmon-bearing streams, with 1470 miles of salmon habitat. Many of the streams in Willapa Bay are low-gradient streams that empty directly into the estuary. Changes in land management and fish management practices over the years have almost eliminated the chum salmon in Willapa Bay. The large chum population was targeted for harvest by fish traps, and sets, from the turn of the 19th century until 1935. Staring in the 1950’s commercial gillnetting, with the use of the monofilament nets harvest salmon/sturgeon, until 1998, when Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, closed the Bear River for commercial harvest because the salmon population was very low. In 2009, the run size is less than 1% of the total salmonids. In Willapa Bay historically the natural spawning populations of anadromous fish have been: 65% chum; 25% coho, and 10% Chinook. Other anadromous cutthroat trout, steelhead, but there is no reliable data on their populations; all have been experiencing sharp declining populations.
During the 1950s, a large portion of the salt marsh habitat present in Bear River estuary was eliminated by the construction of several miles of a dike that ran parallel to the southern shoreline of Willapa Bay. The dike disrupts physical, chemical and biological processes associated with tidally influenced areas; acts as a barrier to the movement of sediment, organic material, and aquatic organisms; and reduces the survival and productivity of several species, including chum, coho, and Chinook salmon, and cutthroat trout, that formerly spawned and/or reared in the diked-off areas.
Resident non-anadromous populations of cutthroat trout were captured in Lewis and Porter Creeks in 1999 (Barndt, et al. 2000); the same survey reported that the two streams contain 2.5 miles of potential spawning and rearing habitat. Fish ladders were installed in the dikes in 2001 to enable fish to access Lewis and Porter Point during times of the year when tides were high. As a result, a small run of coho was re-established in Lewis Creek (USFWS 2011).
Goals and objectives: The goal of the project was to restore a large area of the Bear River estuary that had been degraded by past human activities to a healthy, naturally functioning condition. The Bear River Estuary Restoration project removed 5.16 miles of an existing dike, 38 culverts, 2 fish ladders, two tide gates, two footbridges, and many culverts. As a result, nearly 204 hectares (500 acres) of estuarine habitat has been restored, including 91.5 hectares in16 tidal channels that convey water from upland and tidally-influenced areas directly to Willapa Bay. Reestablishment of natural estuarine processes and habitats benefit a diverse array of aquatic and avian species, including marine invertebrates, salmon and trout, shorebirds, and waterfowl, with corresponding ecological and economic benefits.
The primary focus is juvenile salmonids for rearing; and for sturgeon and eulachon (candlefish), which are listed as threatened for habitat in this watershed. The entire area was blocked by dikes in the 1950s, which destroyed the function of the estuary. Strategic planning for restoration stated in 1999, and 11 Strategic plans and studies were completed in the watershed to define the plans for restoring the estuary. The streams flowing into the estuary were restored for spawning and in-stream rearing first. The last stream completed in 2010. The missing element in the juvenile life cycle is estuary rearing for salmonids making their transitions to saltwater. This project provided that necessary element.
Restoration and enhancement of estuarine habitats will increase the acreage of salt marsh and other habitats, including the tidal creeks, eelgrass beds, and channels that furnish young salmon (coho, chum, Chinook, and cutthroat trout), with protected feeding areas where they forage and grow before heading out to sea. Lewis and Porter Point streams also provide spawning habitat for cutthroat trout and coho.
Migratory waterfowl, waterbirds, and shorebirds are also expected to benefit from the increase in tidal marsh and mudflat habitat. Estuarine areas on the Refuge have annually provided important habitat for over 20,000 migrating ducks, tens of thousands of shorebirds, and 3,000 migrating geese at a time. This type of habitat is essential to sustaining the estimated 2.2 million duck, 400,000 Canada goose, 200,000 brant, and over 2 million shorebird use-days associated with the southern half of Willapa Bay (USFWS 1997).
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Access to the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge has changed since the Bear River Estuary Restoration began. Many new opportunities (trails, hunting areas, boat access, etc.) have been created. Tens of thousands of visitors annually discover more about the ecology, wildlife, and management of the Refuge. These areas also provide an outdoor classroom for the Refuge’s Environmental Education Program provided each spring by the Friends of Willapa National Wildlife to all the 4th-grade students in Pacific County, Washington. Students experience and learn from the unique habitats and native wildlife showcased along the trails, including 500 acres of Bear River Estuary restoration.
In addition to the 500-acre Bear River Estuary Restoration, the Refuge completed another 250-acres of restoration in Willapa Bay (see attached map) which enhance salmon recovery efforts, migratory bird management and help to increase the resiliency of Willapa Bay to sea-level rise. In 2013, 49 acres of the estuary at Tarlatt Slough on Washington Department of Transportation property was restored by removing a dike and reconnecting tidal channels. In 2015, the Refuge restored another 149 acres of estuary and removed the last remaining fish barrier to the 2,317-acre watershed, restoring fish passage to ten miles of streams on the Refuge at Greenhead Slough.
Summary:
The Bear River Estuary Restoration project was completed in six years by the staff of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR) with assistance from NDC Timber. Restoration in the Lewis Unit (Phase 1, 160 acres) was completed in 2012, and Porter Point Unit (Phase 2, 140 acres) was completed in 2013-2014. In these first two phases, two fish ladders, two culverts, and over three miles of the dike were removed; thirteen historic streams/channels were reconnected, and 300 acres of the estuary has been restored. Phase 3 & 4 involved maintenance of the existing Parker Slough dike which was completed in 2017. Phase 5 of the restoration was completed in 2018. Approximately 1 mile of the Riekkola dike, two tide gates, and two culverts were removed; 200 acres of the estuary was restored; three historic tidal channels were reconnected, and the western 2,000 feet of the dike that remained as part of the Refuge’s South Bay Trail was improved for public access.
2009
Survey work began. The entire area was flown with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to obtain a detailed map. Then a ground survey cross-section of the dikes and roads was made as an aid to designing the removal of the dikes/roads. These two databases were then combined which produced the overview map of the area. The cross-sectional surveys resulted in a database that defined the soil mass to be removed and fill required.
2010
With funding from Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, WBRFEG, and in-kind design development was started using a design team method. Twenty design team members from WNWR, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, Pacific County, University of Washington, and AMEC Earth and Environmental (AMEC) were the lead design group, and WBRFEG the project sponsor/leader. The design was developed by first developing a Basis of Design document, which all team members agreed upon. This was followed by a series of design reviews, which all design team members attended and agreed upon. In parallel with this activity, a Monitoring Protocol was developed by AMEC. The design was completed in August 2010, and a Biological Evaluation (BE), which included the ESA, historical and archeological determinations, was started. Baseline monitoring was completed in September. The BE report was completed, and an application to the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) was completed in December 2010.
2011
US Fish and Wildlife Service released their Draft CCP/EIS for Willapa NWR which included the design and BE. As a result of the review process, changes were made to the Riekkola Unit design, and the amount of tidal restoration was reduced from 750 to 500 acres in the Final CCP/EIS (USFWS 2011). The Parker Slough dike will remain to provide more short-grass acreage for waterfowl. Changes to the drawings were made and the applications for the ACOE Nationwide Permit 27 (NWP 27).
2012
WNWR restored 64.7 hectares (160 acres) of Lewis Unit, removed 1.62 miles of dikes/roads, a fish ladder, a footbridge, and reconnected Lewis stream and 5 other tidal channels to their historic channels. A number of tidal plugs were installed to aid in restoring historic tidal channels. The majority of the construction work was completed by Refuge staff to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The Lewis Unit was completed on September 30, 2012.
2013 & 2014
WNWR restored 58.70 hectares (145 acres) of Porter Point Unit in 2013-2014 by removing about 1.64 miles of dikes/roads, a fish ladder, and a foot bridge. Reconnect the Porter Point Unit Stream to its historic channel and 6 other tidal channels to their historic channels. A number of plugs will be installed to assist the re-establishment of historic tidal channels. The majority of the construction work will be completed by Refuge staff to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Phase 3 of the Riekkola Unit also began. Engineering design was developed for Parker Slough dike (LR4) to 14 feet. This dike will allow the refuge to maintain 100 acres of short-grass fields for waterfowl and public hunting.
2015-2017
Phase 4 of the Riekkola Unit was completed in 2017. Work was completed on Parker Slough dike and two new fish-friendly tide gates (side hinge gates with MTRs designed by Nehalem Marine) were installed in Parker Slough and Dohman Creek.
2017-2018
Phase 5 of the restoration was completed in 2018. Approximately 1 mile of the Riekkola dike, two tide gates, and two culverts were removed; three historic tidal channels were reconnected, and the western 2,000 feet of the dike remained as part of the Refuge’s South Bay Trail was improved for public access.
Economic Calculator results:
PMEP funded Phase 2 and Phase 5 of this multi-year project.
In 2012, PMEP provided $25,000 and the sponsor provided $193,500 for Phase 2.
In 2018, PMEP provided $45,017, and the sponsor documented $558,920 in matching funds for Phase 5 of the project.
Partners:
AMEC Earth & Environmental, Craig Enterprises, Ducks Unlimited, Friends of Willapa NWR, Herrera Environmental Consultants, NDC Timber, Pacific Marine & Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (Phase 2 and 5), Salmon Recovery Funding Board (Design for Phases 1, 2 and 5), Sustainable Fisheries Foundation, Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership and Willapa Bay Fisheries Enhancement Group (Design for Phases 1, 2 and 5). Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce, U.S. Geological Survey, and Washington State University Long Beach Research and Extension Unit were partners for restoration monitoring.
Monitoring:
Monitoring is an important component of this restoration. As a part of the design development, a post-construction monitoring protocol was developed, and after the design was completed, baseline monitoring of the entire project area (Lewis, Porter Point, and Riekkola) was accomplished August to October 2010 to define the baseline conditions. Baseline monitoring of water quality, vegetation, channel geomorphology, fish, invertebrates, and development photo monitoring has been completed. Post-construction monitoring has begun. Photo points, bird counts, fish surveys, invertebrate sampling, vegetation transects, water quality sampling, and movement of sediment will be monitored as the restoration continues to evolve.
A time series of photographs have been taken at established photo points to consistently document landscape changes occurring over time. Photographs and the annotated information would provide a qualitative history of the project. Ortho-rectified aerial photos will be used in GIS to quantitatively analyze changes in the intertidal mudflat and blind channel habitat areas, and track the formation and morphology of channels as they develop over time.
Aerial waterfowl surveys have been flown in 2012-2015 by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife documenting large concentrations of shorebirds and waterfowl using the restored areas.
The first chum salmon in the Lewis Unit in over 60 years was observed in one of the restored channels on October 26, 2012 – less than one month after Phase 1 of the restoration was completed. Chum (and coho) salmon were also documented during fall surveys conducted in Lewis stream in 2012. In 2014, a study of juvenile fish and invertebrates utilizing Lewis and Porter Point began by Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce and U.S. Geological Survey respectively. A 20% increase in fish abundance was documented from 2014 to 2105. Fish species diversity over the three years of spring season sampling comprised five salmonid species and fifteen other fish species. Benthic invertebrate community structure consisted of polychaetes, nematodes, oligochaetes, amphipods, and dipteran larvae. Benthic invertebrate biomass increased up to 30-fold at some sites between 2014 and 2015.
Washington State University (2013-2017) established long-term vegetation transects in Lewis and Porter Point. Native tidal marsh species succession where dikes were removed has shown an increase in vegetative cover ranging from 83% to 98 and a significant decrease in the density and distribution of invasive reed canary grass.
References:
Applied Environmental Services, Inc. 2001. Pacific County (WRIA 24) Strategic Plan For Salmon Recovery. Prepared for: Pacific County South Bend, WA. Port Orchard, WA.
Barndt, S.A., T.C. Coley, J.C. Taylor, and B.A. Ensign. 2000. Physical and Biological Characteristics and Salmonid Restoration Potential of Seven Willapa National Wildlife Refuge Waterbodies. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbia River Fisheries Office, Vancouver, WA.
Drut, M.S. and J.B. Buchanan. 2000. U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. Northern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Management Plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Migratory Bird Management, Portland, OR.
Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP). 2012. Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership Strategic Framework 2012–2017. Salem, OR.
The Nature Conservancy and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2006. Pacific Northwest Coast Ecoregional Assessment. The Nature Conservancy, Portland OR. <http://conserveonline.org/coldocs/2007/02/PNW_Coast_EA_Final_Main_Report_Aug21.pdf>(accessed July 12, 2010).
USFWS. 1997. Control of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) on Willapa National Wildlife Refuge—Environmental Assessment.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2011. Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, Ilwaco, WA.
Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership (WCSSP). 2012. Draft Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Plan - Protect the Best, Restore the Rest. Ocean Shores, WA.
Upper Green Valley Creek, California
Purpose of the project:
This project restored fish passage and stabilized the grade through a 600-ft stream reach of Upper Green Valley Creek (a tributary to the Russian River), resulting in passage for juvenile and adult coho salmon to an additional 4,810 ft (0.9 miles) of rearing and spawning habitat. The Green Valley Creek Watershed has a high potential for salmonid recovery, but sedimentation, channel incision, and fish passage barriers have limited the success of fisheries. This has been illustrated by a documented decline in fish habitat in the Upper Green Valley System by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) and accompanied by a collapse in both coho and steelhead populations.
The Guerneville hydrologic subarea (HAS) is identified in California Department of Fish and Game’s (CDFG) Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon (CDFG, 2004) as level 5 (the highest ranking) for restoration management potential in the Central California Coast (CCC) Coho ESU, while the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) CCC Coho Salmon Recovery Plan identified Green Valley Creek as a Phase 1 Priority Area, with a goal for near-term population recovery. In addition, NOAA has recognized the Russian River and tributaries to the Russian such as Green Valley Creek as a Habitat Focus are under the Habitat Blueprint. The Russian River Habitat Blueprint effort has been focusing on opening coho salmon breeding grounds, improving habitat to reduce flooding and recover fish populations, and incorporating water conservation measures for local landowners by installing off-stream storage, providing enough streamflow for the summer survival of endangered fish species. More information can be found at https://www.habitatblueprint.noaa.gov/habitat-focus-areas/russian-river-california/
Green Valley Creek, a major tributary to the lower Russian River, provides critical habitat, particularly in its upper portions, for remnant native populations of CCC coho salmon (listed at the federal and state levels as endangered) and North Coast Diversity Stratum steelhead trout (listed as threatened, but still supports a recreational fishery). Green Valley Creek was one of only three Russian River tributaries in which coho salmon were recorded in the early 2000s and has been a focus watershed for CDFW’s coho recovery program, for the Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership, and for the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Project. The Broodstock Program has been stocking juvenile coho into Green Valley Creek (including the reach that contains the project site) since 2006. The goal of coho restoration efforts is to restore the species to vibrant, self-sustaining population levels that could ultimately be part of local economies.
This project addressed a significant instream barrier in the stream’s upper reaches consisting of an undersized, failing private road culvert, whose inlet sits 11.5 ft above the outlet pool depth. The reach upstream of the project area, which was currently inaccessible to coho under all flow conditions, is low gradient and had many attributes of high-quality coho rearing habitat, including year-round flow, with intermediate spawning habitat. Now that the original barrier has been remediated with a bottomless arch culvert to create a 157-ft long step-pool roughened channel through the crossing, with two series of boulder weirs on either end, the project ensures grade stabilization through this valuable reach, preserves floodplain connectivity and arrests downcutting. Finally, the riparian corridor throughout the 600-ft reach, (comprising of more than 1.1 acres) was revegetated with over 650 native plants and is being maintained for three years (through 2021).
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
This is a highly visible project site (adjacent to a county road) and involved outreach to the community through project signage, social media updates, and newsletter articles. Additionally, riparian restoration of the 600-ft, 1.1-acre disturbed corridor was conducted by Point Blue Conservation Science’s environmental education program, Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed (STRAW). The project will serve as an educational site and hands-on restoration experience for grade school classes through the program. A post-construction project tour was conducted for members of the public, which was also attended by staff from CDFW, NOAA, County supervisorial staff, as well as state legislative staff. Five local school groups assisted with riparian vegetation planting.
Project Timeline: The California Fish Passage Forum provided funding to this project in 2017, and the project was completed in July 2018. Monitoring and boulder weir maintenance is ongoing, and the Point Blue Conservation Science’s environmental education program, STRAW, will maintain the plantings for three years after installation.
Partners: Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (GRRCD) (project lead), Stetson Engineers, Point Blue Conservation Science with funding support from California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Fisheries Restoration Grant Program (FRGP) and the California Fish Passage Forum.
Tainter Creek, Wisconsin
Purpose of the project:
Trout Unlimited, Valley Stewardship Network (VSN), Vernon and Crawford County, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Mississippi Valley Conservancy, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WI DNR), Driftless Area Restoration Effort and Fishers & Farmers Partnership are working with farmers and the Tainter Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council to implement best management practices to retain sediment and nutrients on the landscape while improving fish habitat for both brook and brown trout. This watershed currently has several projects including upland, riparian corridor, and instream work funded by the partners listed above. Projects include improving streambank stabilization, in-stream cover for trout, cover crops, prairie strips, conservation tillage, rotational grazing, strengthening the farmer-led council, outreach, monitoring, and enhancing angling accessibility. Both WI DNR and VSN annually monitor Tainter Creek. Four volunteers from VSN are members of the WI DNR Wisconsin Action Volunteers Program and monitor total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, streamflow, transparency, temperature, macroinvertebrates, and pH.
Conservation Success:
In-stream and riparian miles enhanced 1.15
Riparian acres enhanced 16.7
In-stream/shoreline habitat assessed 1.2
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Tainter Creek is an exceptional water resource for cold water anglers in the watershed and is part of a larger complex of improved waters in the Kickapoo Watershed. It is part of the NRCS Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) that federal, state, county and local non-government organizations are working on with farmers. Partners are working to reduce thousands of pounds of sediment and nutrients going to Tainter Creek, Kickapoo River and ultimately the Mississippi River.
This project is highly supported by the community and anglers that travel for many miles, some as far away as Illinois. Tainter Creek is promoted as one of Crawford County’s top hotspots for trout fishing. In 2016, Trout Unlimited commissioned a study of the economic impact of trout fishing and stream restoration activities in the Driftless Area. The direct spending by visiting anglers, government agencies and non- government organizations adds well over $413 million to the Driftless Area economy each year. The secondary and ripple effect of these spending results in an additional estimated amount of over $670 million added to the Driftless Area economy each year.
Tainter Creek Watershed Council has a Fishing event for families during the first week of June that includes instructions for kids on casting, fly-tying, and will have fish shocking demonstrations and a project tour.
Project will be promoted through Kickapoo Grazing Initiative, Valley Stewardship Network, Fishers & Farmers, DARE, Trout Unlimited Websites, VSN e-news campaign, TU annual bus tour, WI DNR public access fishing maps, local news articles, Farmer-Led Council meetings, Tainter Creek Watershed Council’s Fishing Day (June 1, 2019) and pre and post drone flights.
Project Timeline:
Streambank stabilization project is complete. (2018) Prairie STRIPS project completed. (2018-2019)
Fishers & Farmers and DARE FHP Promotion of project(s) 2019-2020
Partners:
Trout Unlimited, Valley Stewardship Network, Vernon and Crawford County, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Mississippi Valley Conservancy, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Kickapoo Grazing Initiative, Driftless Area Restoration Effort and Fishers & Farmers Partnership are working with farmers and the Tainter Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council.
Sullivan Gulch, Oregon
Purpose of the project:
The primary purpose of the project was to restore fish passage and winter rearing habitat for coho salmon and other native fish on 31 acres of the Sixes River estuarine floodplain at Cape Blanco State Park. Coho salmon are listed as threatened in the Sixes River watershed, and winter rearing habitat is the primary limiting factor to their recovery. Other objectives included: the restoration of wetland habitat for shorebirds and amphibians; enhancement of wildlife habitat for migratory songbirds, small mammals, and elk; and improved livestock management on pasture leased to a local ranching family who raises cattle and sheep.
Conservation Success:
• The restoration of fish passage to ~200 acres of winter rearing habitat
• The replacement of 1,000 feet of deeply incised ditch channel with 2,600 feet of unconfined, constructed stream channel
• The excavation of 2 acres of backwater rearing habitat
• Hydrologic reconnection of 11.25 acres of wetland habitat
• The installation of 143 log structures
• The construction of 2 livestock management bridges
• The construction of 9,000 feet of fence to exclude livestock from 31 acres of riparian and wetland habitat
• The planting of ~22,000 native trees and shrubs
• Improved livestock management on 8 acres of pasture
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Cape Blanco State Park is a highly popular recreation site for local residents and regional and international tourists that provides access to the Pacific Ocean and the Elk River and Sixes River estuaries. The Park is used by anglers, campers, hikers, boaters, birders, bikers, botanists, sightseers, historians, and horseback riders. The entrance road to the Park crosses through the Sullivan Gulch Bottomlands, and the project area is highly visible from the road and accessible by foot.
The restoration project was developed by a group of local Stakeholders that included state and federal agencies, the local watershed council and soil and water conservation district, the Coquille Indian Tribe, and the McKenzie Family who leases pastureland from the Park. The Stakeholders saw the project as a great opportunity to demonstrate how watershed restoration and “working lands” (the family ranch) can co-exist on the landscape, and collectively contribute to the heritage and economy of the local community.
The project has been featured in local newspapers and newsletters, and multiple tours have been given to community groups and the public. School children from multiple districts in the county participated in the first year of tree planting, and local volunteers have assisted with bird counts.
Project Timeline: The project was constructed in the summer of 2015 and fenced and planted in the winter of 2016. Tree and shrub maintenance, interplanting, and invasive weed suppression are ongoing through 2020; as is monitoring to determine project effectiveness and future management needs.
Partners: The following partners were involved in the development, implementation, and/or funding of the project:
• Bureau of Land Management
• Coquille Indian Tribe
• Curry Soil and Water Conservation District
• USDA Farm Services Agency
• McKenzie Family
• North American Wetland Conservation Act
• Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
• Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
• Pacific Marine and Estuarine Partnership
• South Coast Watershed Council
• US Fish and Wildlife Service
• US Forest Service
• Wild Rivers Coast Alliance
Spasski River and Hoonah Native Forest Partnership
Purpose of the project:
The Hoonah Native Forest Partnership (HNFP) aims to balance ecological social and economic outcomes by employing an interdisciplinary collaborative approach to watershed assessment and resource planning. Using a science-based, landscape scale, community forest approach to sustainable watershed management, the HNFP works across land ownership boundaries to achieve a measurable and resilient blend of timber, salmon, deer, and other forest products that maintain and improve resource conditions for landowners and residents. The project area is located in Northern Chichigof Island in Southeast Alaska and is located near the community of Hoonah. It is part of the world’s largest coastal temperate rainforest and supports a variety of fish and wildlife that are critical for the livelihood, culture, and traditions of the Huna Tlingit tribe and residents.
Spasski River Watershed is a priority area to the HNFP and a priority watershed to the Tongass National Forest. This 20,673-acre watershed is managed by Huna Totem Corporation (47%) and the Tongass National Forest (53%). It is valuable to residents of Hoonah for fish, deer, timber, and other resources. It is a densely roaded watershed with extensively harvested valley bottoms and hillslopes that have altered streams and habitats.
Watershed restoration by the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership includes numerous restoration opportunities in the Spasski River Watershed and includes stream habitat restoration, riparian area vegetation treatments for stream resilience and wildlife habitats improvements, fish passage improvements across roads, sediment reduction from roads and forest thinning treatments for restoration and forest products. Assessment and planning by the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership began in 2015 and pilot projects in the Spasski River Watershed initiated in 2018 and will continue through 2023. It is envisioned these obtainable restoration opportunities will improve the watershed condition and provide local jobs and economic stimulus to the rural Alaskan community of Hoonah.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: The Spasski River Watershed assessment and restoration plan have been guided by community values and landowner agreements. A local workforce has been established that has become skilled in natural resource data collection, management, and project implementation. The actions ongoing in Spasski Watershed are restoring healthy fish and wildlife habitats, diversifying the local economy and building sustainable, and locally-led, land management.
Project partners have created many platforms for sharing information on the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership and efforts of the project.
Project Resources:
http://sustainablesoutheast.net/hoonah-native-forest-partnership/
https://www.facebook.com/hoonahnativeforestparternship
https://www.hia-env.org/hoonah-native-forest-partnership/
In addition, a short video was created to help share an overview of the project and highlight the work of field crew: http://bit.ly/2Z8m5j6
Also, in March of 2018, project partners shared an overview of collaborative lessons learned from this project: http://bit.ly/30Flfek
Project Timeline:
• 2015-2016 Data collection including community outreach and subsistence surveys, media outreach, resource data collection including fish, wildlife, vegetation, and roads.
• 2017-Data assessment, sharing of results and shareholder input
• 2018 Watershed Assessment and Pilot Projects
• 2019 Restoration Plan and Project Implementation
• 2020-2023 Restoration and Monitoring
Economic impact models have been developed to track the expenditures made in local communities and estimate the local economic activity generated as a result of expenditures made from restoration projects. Model results specific to the Spasski Watershed Project, including expenditures for pre-project assessment and planning that occurred in 2015 and 2016, and direct project expenditures made in 2017-2019, show an investment of $630,000 (not including other in-kind project support) supports 11.8 jobs in Hoonah and generates roughly $1,130,000 in total sales, $630,000 in value-added and
$520,000 in incomes for this local community.
Partners: Huna Totem Corporation, Sealaska Corporation, The Nature Conservancy, Tongass National Forest, Southeast Sustainable Partnership, Alaska Fish and Game, Hoonah Indian Association, Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resource Conservation Service
Megler Creek, Washington
Purpose of the project:
The Columbia-Pacific Passage habitat restoration project is part of a multi-phase effort sponsored by the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), involving three separate tributaries to the Columbia River estuary. The three sites are located within five miles of each other on the Columbia River shoreline in southwest Washington. The sites included in this large-scale restoration effort include Fort Columbia, which was restored in 2010 as part of phase I, Megler Creek, which was restored in 2017 as part of phase II, and Hungry Harbor, which is currently being proposed for construction in 2020 as the third and final phase of the restoration strategy. Restoration is needed in this estuarine reach of the Columbia River because extensive historical alterations of the shoreline to support highway infrastructure have eliminated the majority of off-channel foraging and rearing opportunities for juvenile salmonids along this important migration corridor. Most of the nine miles along the Washington shoreline, from Knappton Cove to the town of Chinook, is heavily riprapped to protect State Route 401.
Consequently, most of the historical estuarine tributaries and floodplains that once served as an off-channel habitat for migrating and spawning salmon have been disconnected from the Columbia mainstem by a series of inappropriately sized and placed culverts. Further compounding the issue, fish presence studies conducted by NOAA on the Columbia River mainstem indicate that the primary route taken by nearly 80% of outgoing juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River system is along the Washington shoreline. Historic habitat loss and fish use data demonstrate the importance and need for reconnecting critical off-channel rearing habitat for salmon along this key migratory route to improve the survival of Endangered Species Act listed salmonids. Each phase of the project has integrated climate resilience measures into restoration design focused on addressing issues of fish passage to off-channel tidal floodplain habitats and direct tributaries to the Columbia River between river mile 8 and 14. Examples of climate-resilient measures incorporated into project designs include freeboard elevation determinations to ensure the infrastructure has the appropriate size hydraulic opening under several sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios, implementing diverse planting plans to specifically select appropriate species assemblages capable of accommodating changes in salinity and inundation, strategic removal of impounded sediment and grading of the site to ensure gradual slopes that allow plant species the opportunity to adjust alongside SLR, and restoring sediment accretion processes capable of keeping up with or slowing down the loss of shallow-water habitats in the face of SLR.
Alongside the integration of climate resilience measures into restoration project designs, the project targets limiting factors for estuary and tributary habitats for anadromous fish. Targeted limiting factors include loss of habitat connectivity, blockages to off-channel/stream habitats, loss of side-channel or side-channel habitats, altered nutrient exchange processes, availability of preferred habitat (shallow water, peripheral habitats), and macrodetrius-based food web at multiple locations. Each phase of the Columbia-Pacific Passage project seeks to remove fish barriers to improve fish access to shallow water habitat for rearing ocean type juvenile salmon, increase access to spawning habitat for adult salmonids, increase foodweb productivity, and incorporate climate resilience in the Columbia River and nearshore environment.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The Columbia and its tributaries have been central to the region’s culture and economy for centuries. Pacific County is home to one of the most marine dependent communities in the nation. The local economy relies on healthy waters and intact coastal habitats that support fishing and shellfish aquaculture. Approximately 21,000 people live in Pacific County; many live in low-lying coastal regions. These low-lying coastal regions are at risk from significant flooding caused by storms, storm surges, and tsunamis. In the proposed project area, the Columbia River and its riverbank transit corridors serve as the primary route for the transportation of goods and services, including emergency services. State Highway 401 is the only major highway that connects many of the rural communities in Southwest Washington, with an Average Annual Daily Traffic load of approximately 3,000 vehicles. As populations have grown, development pressure on the associated coastal habitats has increased along the CRE shoreline and outer coast. Concurrently, the effects of climate change, sea-level rise, flooding, increasing storms, and coastal erosion cause the shoreline to retreat landward. In a shifting environment, habitat conservation and resilient infrastructure will allow coastal habitats to continue to provide their steady stream of benefits. It is important to create a vision for the shoreline that balances the needs of the community with the needs of the environment so that both can thrive. The CPP project seeks to merge critical infrastructures such as public transportation corridors with essential floodplain and wetland habitat. Past infrastructure development has significantly reduced the role that the floodplain wetlands play in mitigating the impact of disasters by disconnecting the river from its floodplain and associated wetlands. The CPP project focuses on three of the larger disconnected floodplains along SR 401 and Highway 101 and utilizes engineering solutions to promote more natural movement and connectivity between floodplains and waterways. Under several projected climate change scenarios, extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, and storms are expected to increase in frequency and intensity. Natural infrastructure, including floodplains and wetlands, can help provide communities with resilience to these natural hazards. Well managed ecosystems can reduce the impact of many natural hazards, such as flooding, landslides, and storm surges. Investments in preventative measures, including investments in maintaining and restoring healthy ecosystems, are effective at reducing costs incurred by disasters. Not only will the CPP project help buffer against potential future hazards, but it will also replace failing infrastructure along a major public transportation corridor equipped with buried 911 communication lines with seismically stable infrastructure built to the current Washington State Department of Transportation standards.
The CPP project provides multiple benefits, as it not only provides ecosystem and species-specific benefits, it also corrects engineering deficiencies that have led to unsafe road conditions. The current placement of the Hungry Harbor culvert is in an unsuitable location to safely pass the flow of the two unnamed tributaries. With the current placement, the creeks are slowly eroding the toe of the road prism. Without intervention, road failure at the Hungry Harbor site is inevitable. The highway corridor within the CPP project area hosts a public rest area, a national park, a state park, in addition to private residences. Roadway failures can be catastrophic as highways collapse without warning in high volume traffic areas. The project will upgrade a neglected section of roadway with resilient and safer infrastructure, improve floodplain connectivity and conveyance, and help serve Southwest Washington communities that rely on this stretch of highway in their day to day lives.
Project Timeline:
Columbia-Pacific Passage Habitat Restoration at Megler Creek was completed in February 2017. Project design began in 2014 and was completed in 2015. Project construction began in October 2016 and was completed in February 2017. Economic impact models track the expenditures made in local communities and estimate the local economic activity generated as a result of those expenditures. An investment of $1,001,215.00 in the Columbia-Pacific Passage Habitat Restoration at Megler Creek Project in Southwest Washington would support 16 jobs in Washington and generate $1,690,824.66 in total sales, $1,057,425.09 in value-added and $755,546.88 in incomes for this local community. A job in IMPLAN (a commercially available economic impact software) is equal to the annual average of monthly jobs in this sector. Total sales are defined as the total value of industry production. Value added is equivalent to that activity’s contribution to gross domestic product.
Partners:
Pacific Marine Estuarine Partnership
National Park Service
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board
Salmon Recovery Funding Board
Alexander Creek, Alaska
Purpose of the project:
Approximately 50 air miles northwest of Anchorage, Alexander Creek Watershed is a remote and slow-moving meandering river system with numerous tributaries and shallow lakes and ponds. It has thousands of acres of adjacent wetlands with side-sloughs and oxbow channels. Originally named a Waters to Watch project in 2015, we are looking at this project in retrospect as elodea continues to be an issue affecting the habitat for Salmon in the lake and returns to the Susitna River.
In the late 1990s Alexander Watershed was highly productive Chinook and coho salmon habitat, and arguably the premier Chinook sport fishing area in the Matanuska-Sustina Valley (Mat-Su). It supported what was likely a multi-million dollar salmon fishery with lodges, daily flight service, and boat charters. Today, however, due to low returns, Alexander drainage is closed to Chinook harvest and is a fraction of the economic driver it once was. Anglers today are motivated to travel to the remote lake to catch invasive northern pike, rather than salmon.
While northern pike (Esox lucius) are native north and west of the Alaska Range in interior Alaska, they are an introduced species to the Mat-Su Basin (thought to have been introduced illegally in the early 1960s), where they are voracious predators of juvenile salmon and other native resident fish and wildlife. Impacts of invasive northern pike predation on native fish populations are known to be devastating where their habitats overlap. Northern pike prefer cool, slow-moving shallow waters that are highly vegetated, enabling them to hide and ambush prey. The potential threat of northern pike is greatest for Chinook and Coho salmon due to a preference for similar habitats. To date, pike have expanded throughout the entirety of the Alexander drainage resulting in native fish populations that contribute to eroding subsistence, commercial and particularly sport fishing opportunities. Northern pike have direct impacts on salmon populations, and indirect economic impacts on ecosystem health through decreasing biodiversity, removing salmon as a food source for terrestrial predators like bears and eagles and reducing the transfer of marine-derived nutrients to terrestrial ecosystems through decaying salmon carcasses.
Compounding the situation, in August of 2014, the aquatic invasive plant Elodea was discovered for the first time in Mat-Su waters by Alaska Department of Fish and Game crews suppressing and monitoring northern pike. The relatively small, patchy 10-acre infestation in Alexander Lake is thought to have established from a transported fragment via floatplane from Sand Lake; the only Anchorage infestation that allowed floatplane traffic at the time. Of the 20 total waterbodies with Elodea discovered in the entire state of Alaska, Alexander is one of the few recent discoveries in a remote location.
When introduced to a new waterway, Elodea grows rapidly, overtaking native plants, filling the water column, and changing the habitat conditions to which native fish are adapted. Thick mats form at or just below the water surface and can foul boat propellers and floatplane rudders, causing a hazard and greatly increasing the potential for spread. In addition to impeding fishing, navigation, boat launching, and paddling, it can also reduce waterfront property values. In Alaska’s environments ranging from Fairbanks to Cordova, it tolerates cold winters and photosynthesizes under the ice. Unfortunately, since the discovery of elodea in 2014, it has already established throughout 90% of Alexander Lake and fully covers the Sucker Lake complex.
Further, it is expanding downstream in Alexander and Sucker creeks. This habitat change may now be creating better habitat for predatory northern pike, further exacerbating the existing impacts of pike predation on juvenile salmon and other fish.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Partners have been working to restore Alexander Creek drainage Chinook salmon numbers in what previously was very productive habitat, and one of the most vibrant Chinook sport fisheries in Southcentral Alaska. This abundant fishery attracted international, national and in-state anglers supported with lodges, daily flight service, and charter boats, providing a boost to the local economy.
With the recent increase in the Elodea infestations, there is a concern of compounded effects of pike and Elodea on salmon that will not only reduce gains made in reducing pike populations by partners but increase the challenges already faced by Chinook salmon populations returning in lower numbers to the Susitna drainage. This is particularly significant during a time of general statewide Chinook declines, where 8 of the 14 statewide stocks of concern are located in the Mat-Su. 8 of these stocks – one of them being Alexander Creek, are Chinook stocks from the Susitna drainage, and 1 is a sockeye stock.
The greatest threats to salmon and salmon habitat in the Mat-Su are typically due to human development impacts. Invasive aquatic species like Elodea and pike pose a threat to remote areas as well. With concurrent, Chinook salmon declines across the state, Alexander Creek drainage and the excellent salmon habitat it provides is increasingly important.
Project Timeline:
Mat-Su salmon habitat partners continue to plan and implement ongoing efforts to suppress pike and survey high-risk waterbodies, educate and eradicate Elodea in Alexander Creek drainage.
Partners:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) – ADF&G has completed the 9th year of a long- term and large scale annual gillnetting project to control northern pike on Alexander Creek. The intent is to replenish depleted anadromous and resident fish populations and restoring sport fishing opportunities to this once very popular and productive system. As part of the project, ADF&G also conducted a radio telemetry study to investigate movement patterns between Alexander Lake and the mainstem of the creek, is investigating diet, and testing effective control and detection methods. Directed by the Management Plan for Invasive Northern Pike and prioritized through a strategic planning process, the northern pike suppression project in Alexander Creek is the largest of its kind ever attempted in Alaska, and preliminary findings from the nine years of this project are encouraging.
Project goals are to create an annual, large scale pike removal protocol on side channel sloughs to remove as many pike as possible, track spatial and temporal movement trends of pike to and from Alexander Lake, and measure success, monitor adult salmon returns, resident fish production and juvenile production and movement.
As of spring 2019, results have been very successful. With each year of pike suppression, Chinook fry were found further up the creek system and now occupy the entire 40-mile river corridor again. Unfortunately, the movement patterns observed during the telemetry study are now likely being influenced by the extensive growth of Elodea in the system.
Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA) – Continuing long term pike suppression efforts in 2019 on adjacent watersheds on the Susitna River that additionally includes the examination of seasonal movement patterns, population estimates, and field testing of electronic fish barriers.
Although the Mat-Su is the fastest-growing region in Alaska, putting increased pressure on the spread of Elodea, much of the Mat-Su is remote and in many cases most readily accessed only by boat or floatplane. Alaska’s biggest population center - Anchorage is adjacent and regularly utilizes Mat-Su’s rich resources to fish, hunt and recreate. Many Alaskan’s fly private aircraft, and there are several lakes currently infested with Elodea that see significant floatplane and motorboat use, vectors that could easily lead to further spread of Elodea. Even a tiny fragment that hitchhikes on boats, trailers, floatplane rudders or other gear can establish a new infestation in another waterbody. The Alexander and Sucker Lakes Elodea was very likely spread by floatplane from one of the Anchorage infested lakes. For this reason, Elodea outreach, detection, and eradication efforts are broader and more regional in scale and by necessity extend outside the Alexander Creek and Mat-Su Basins.
Partners are currently are working on eradication plans for Alexander Creek Watershed. To date, all herbicide permits have been acquired and a NEPA study has been concluded. An Outcome from a Mat-Su Salmon Partnership site visit, a broad-based Elodea Task Force formed to help implement all aspects of elodea control and eradication work, and ADF&G has temporarily closed sport fishing in Alexander and Sucker Lakes to help contain the Elodea and prevent dispersal from floatplanes accessing those lakes. Funding remains a challenge for this work. However, partners will be sampling high priority areas in the Mat-Su, educating priority audiences like pilots, residents of infested lakes, anglers and guides and will be providing training to help build awareness and create a growing body of residents, recreationists and practitioners who all can recognize Elodea and know what to do if they do see it. Efforts to fundraise for the project are on-going, and herbicide treatments in the watershed will continue. The Mat-Su Salmon Partnership is working with DNR to develop and help support further future training opportunities as well as implement an Elodea statewide management plan.
Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR) (NFHP FY19 funding) – lead agency and currently working with partners on an eradication plan. Anchorage infestations are scheduled to be nearing completion in the summer of 2019. Because the infestation in the Mat-Su is so significant and a high concern for dispersal, ADNR along with other collaborating partners, are making Mat-Su Elodea eradication in the Alexander Creek Watershed the highest priority.
Tyonek Tribal Conservation District (TTCD) – TTCD continues to conduct a district-wide invasive plant survey covering Alexander Creek, Beluga, and Skwentna as well as rivers and roads not previously surveyed.
Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA) (NFHP funded) – surveyed Susitna River watershed lakes in 2018 and continues to plan further surveys in 2019.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) – Closed sport fishing in Alexander and Sucker Lakes in 2019 to help contain the Elodea. Continues to assist with herbicide treatment planning, project implementation, and fundraising. Several field staff crew and project managers have taken Aquatic Invasive Species training that includes information on how to identify, survey for, and recognize habitat for Elodea. Alexander pike suppression field staff are collaborating with ADNR for sample taking and logistics for Elodea eradication project.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) - Providing outreach, funding, and technical support for Elodea early detection and rapid response efforts in Mat-Su, Kenai, Anchorage, and Fairbanks.
Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico
Purpose of the project:
Elephant Butte Reservoir is a 100-year old irrigation reservoir on the Rio Grande River, one of the top ten endangered rivers in the world. The primary purpose of the reservoir is to retain and release water for agricultural and municipal uses. As a result, irrigation releases managed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) cause annual lake level fluctuations on the range of 30 vertical feet, destroying all terrestrial vegetation, eroding soils and preventing the establishment of aquatic vegetation. The timing of the releases often disrupts spawning of littoral fish species. Siltation over the life span of the reservoir has degraded what shallow-water habitat that existed in the upper reaches of the reservoir. Recent wildfires in the watershed have further exacerbated the siltation issues. Furthermore, Elephant Butte is in the arid southwest (southern New Mexico) and is subjected to frequent and prolonged drought periods. It would be hard to imagine more hostile conditions under which to restore fish habitat and recreate the once vibrant fishery.
The New Mexico B.A.S.S. Nation (NMBN) has received two grants from the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership: 1) $20,000 in FY2014 and 2) $25,000 in FY2018. The objectives of the projects are to restore littoral fish habitat using artificial and natural structures and to establish native vegetation in the “drawdown” zone of the reservoir. To do so under these challenging conditions has required developing innovative methods and testing of Best Management Practices for reservoir habitat restoration in western irrigation impoundments. The initial years of the project focused on “traditional” structure addition techniques such as adding Christmas trees discarded by local communities and locally available juniper trees, concrete reef balls, and rock/pallet structures. Floating islands were placed along marinas and selected shorelines and attempts were made to establish native vegetation through the distribution of “seed balls.” The current phase is focused on implementing a long-term vegetation plan and using longer-lasting juniper cuttings and artificial structures. The vegetation plan includes several innovative methods to introduce native seeds, seedlings and pole plantings to the moist shoreline as it recedes. We are currently focusing on the Gooding willow (Salix goodingii). During field exploration and observation, the Ruidoso High School science class confirmed that the Gooding willow can survive being submerged for several months in water as deep as 20 feet. One plant was estimated to be over four years old and had survived three extended submersions, beavers and propeller damage. Other isolated younger plants were observed in several coves. Further evaluation found that the Gooding willow was able to compete with invasive tamarisk in the far north reaches of the lake where it provides critical habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Initial plantings in 2016 have been successful with over 80% survival. Restoration of these native plants will eventually create dense stands that would provide shoreline wildlife habitat during the summer and fall and fish habitat during the winter and spring.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
This project transitions to more permanent artificial and juniper structures and increases the amount of native shoreline vegetation that will support local wildlife including improved habitat for fish, endangered willow flycatchers, and desert wildlife that have suffered from the recent drought. The project is in step with the New Mexico State Parks initiative to include more year-round activities including hunting and establishing an off-road vehicle park. The State Park has the highest number of visitors of any park in the state. The reservoir is the major water destination for people from Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Socorro and El Paso, Texas with combined populations of almost 2 million people. On July 4th weekend, the area becomes the fourth largest populated area in New Mexico with over 100,000 visits to the park. The local economy relies heavily on tourism and recreation. The decrease in water levels has had a serious impact on businesses and property values. This project would attempt to mitigate the impact of water fluctuations on the fishery.
The Elephant Butte Adapt-a-Cove project strives to involve all park visitors and will enhance both fishing and hunting opportunities. The project also will develop and communicate best management practices and innovations that could be used worldwide to make more sustainable and productive use of reservoir shorelines that are exposed either due to drought or annual fluctuations.
Project Timeline:
Phase I: 9/2015-10/2016
Phase II: 5/2019-12/2020
Partners: New Mexico B.A.S.S. Nation, Bureau of Reclamation, New Mexico Game and Fish, New Mexico State Parks, New Mexico State Chapter of AFS, Kemp Foundation, Albuquerque Hawg Hunters, Messilla Valley Bassmasters, Cedar Cove Bass Club, Riudoso High School, Marina Del Sur, Butte General Store and Marina, Zia Kayaks, Thomas Farms, Steve Bell Construction.
Crews Creek, Georgia
Purpose of the project: This project is located on a spring-fed tributary that drains into Hillabahatchee Creek, which feeds into the Chattahoochee River. Restoration activities will reduce sediment inputs, increase resiliency to alterations of hydrology and protect critical habitat to benefit fish and wildlife populations as well as address 303d impairments on the Hillabahatchee Creek.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: The portion of the Hillabahatchee Creek is listed as a 303d impaired waterbody from increased nutrient concentrations and fecal coliform. Frolona Farms is a 600-acre multi-generational family farm dating back to the Georgia land lottery in the early 19th century. Previously, the springs and creeks on this property served as water sources for livestock. Lack of fencing and alternative water sources degraded streambanks, destroyed riparian habitat and resulted in significant alterations to hydrologic function. By utilizing fencing practices, the landowner will reduce both sediment and direct nutrient inputs to the local tributary as well as downstream into Hillabahatchee Creek. This area of the Creek was previously known to support a thriving shoal bass population which has been extirpated due to habitat degradation. Shoal bass spawn in fast-flowing shallow stretches of the river (shoals) which can be adversely impacted through increased sedimentation and reductions in water quality and quantity. The proposed restoration activities will reduce sediment inputs and improve water quality through implementation of best management practices providing one step closer to restoring portions of the Hillabahatchee Creek to support shoal bass and other populations that once existed in this location.
Project Timeline:
Survey Work completed: 06/2016
Ongoing work start (fencing, water wells, and panels installation, etc.):
Phase I construction start: 03/2018 Phase I construction complete: 06/2019
Phase II construction and maintenance start: 03/2019
Phase II construction and maintenance complete: 12/2019 (estimated) Entire project completion: Projected 12/2019
Partners: Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Landowner, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Georgia Power Company, United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
Coal Creek, Wyoming
The Bear River Drainage
The Bear River drainage supports multiple life-history strategies for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout in an area that spans Northern Utah, Southeast Idaho, and Southwest Wyoming. WNTI seeks to support actions to protect stronghold habitats, restore habitat connectivity, and enhance resilience to extreme environmental conditions and fluctuations for 10 Bear River GMU Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (BCT) stronghold populations. Our focus is on mid-elevation lands that experience a variety of land uses, some of which have contributed to the fragmentation of the landscape, thus presenting barriers to fish accessing high-quality upstream habitats on federal lands.
Bonneville Cutthroat Trout – A Comeback Story
Hiding in the creeks and lakes of the Bonneville Basin swims one of the greatest comebacks in American history: the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout. In the early 1970s, most of the scientific community had written off the Bonneville Cutthroat as extinct. Remarkably, a few isolated populations were found in Utah beginning with Birch Creek in 1974. However, in 1978, only six populations were known to exist in all Utah. In the following four decades, widespread recovery efforts have been made across the Bonneville’s native range of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada. From 1978 to 2000, the number of known populations across Utah rose to 261. Today, Bonneville Cutthroat Trout inhabit 2,500 miles of streams across its historic range, with each mile representing a labor of love for the spotted red fish.
The success of the Bonneville Cutthroat recovery serves as an inspiration to those working on salmonids across the West. Within the course of four decades, the number of populations in the Bonneville Basin rose from 6 to more than 275. The conservation of this fish has involved biologists at all levels and many agencies, organizations, and individuals. Yet, there is still work to do.
Purpose of the project:
From 2018–2020, the Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI) is working with the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout Interagency Conservation Team and other partners to elevate and accelerate conservation for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout in the Bear River drainage by securing partners and the financial resources to implement a portfolio of 12 projects that address aging infrastructure contributing to degradation of riparian habitat, barriers to fish movement, and increased sedimentation. Coal Creek Bank Stabilization and Sediment Reduction Project in Wyoming is one of the projects in the portfolio and was completed in 2018.
Coal Creek Bank Stabilization and Sediment Reduction
Coal Creek is a primary perennial tributary in the Thomas Fork River drainage, which contains a conservation population of migratory Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, a designated NSS3 species in Wyoming’s State Wildlife Action Plan. Bonneville cutthroat complete extensive inter-state migrations between the Bear River, the Thomas Fork, and small tributaries for spawning and rearing. In the 1990s, extensive tracking studies documented trout movements from the Bear River upstream through Idaho and into tributaries in Wyoming where the fish that survived the gauntlet of obstacles were able to spawn in small streams, including Coal Creek. Eliminating barriers and allowing expression of migratory life history tactics is important to the conservation of the species in the Bear River system. For some time, the Coal Creek Road had been recognized as a substantial sediment contributor in Coal Creek (Thomas Fork Habitat Management Plan [TFHMP] 1979, BLM National Riparian Service Team 1998). The creek also contained several undersized and perched culverts that impeded fish passage depending on flow conditions.
Aquatic habitats and stream function in Coal Creek had been degraded by high sediment loads from various sources. In particular, the Coal Creek Road (BLM Road #4216) was identified as a major contributor because portions of the road were constructed within the active floodplain, leading to excessive bank erosion and degraded fish habitat. Over time the creek had moved toward the road at numerous sites due to instability from livestock grazing. These conditions created erosion along the toe slopes of the road and caused high loads of sediment to flow directly into the stream. Realignment of the road and creek, runoff drainage remedies, bank stabilization, and re-vegetation and fencing was needed to resolve these problems.
Project summary:
National Fish Habitat Partnership funding was used to complete work to reduce sediment inputs into Coal Creek, an important Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (BCT) stream in western Wyoming. Aquatic habitats and stream function in Coal Creek and downstream in the Thomas Fork River, have been degraded by high sediment levels, contributed by a variety of sources. In particular, the Coal Creek Road has been identified as a major contributor because portions of the road were constructed within the active floodplain. The Project Goal was to address key habitat and connectivity threats to Bonneville Cutthroat Trout by reconnecting habitats and improving tributary habitats, enhancing the viability of Bonneville cutthroat populations, and supporting conservation of unique functioning habitat and life histories.
Objectives:
1) Reduce sediment loading;
2) Improve riparian and aquatic habitat condition and function;
3) Improve habitat for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and other native fishes;
4) Maintain and enhance stream habitat connectivity;
5) Improve road function while reducing sediment contribution
This was accomplished by restoring riparian and upland vegetation, constructing bankfull benches and/or toe wood along meander bends to re-align the channel, completing necessary borrow ditch and road drainage upgrades, re-aligning and regrading the road, and reducing bank angles at ten remaining sites identified along a 2- mile section of Coal Creek Road.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Completion of this project greatly improved road access and safety for a variety of users. Livestock permittees travel this road routinely throughout the summer to tend and move their stock, and hunters and anglers use the road in summer and fall to access prime hunting and fishing spots. The undercut woody structures added to fix eroding banks also provide new trout habitat and places for anglers to target when they pursue their Wyoming Cutt Slam or Western Native trout Challenge. Agency personnel have received numerous positive comments about the road improvements since the project was completed in 2018.
Project Timeline:
Coal Creek Sediment Reduction and Bank Stabilization were completed in two phases. Phase I was constructed in 2015 and addressed fish passage at two historical crossings by replacing an undersized culvert and eroding vehicle ford with properly sized culverts that improve connectivity and stream function. Phase II was completed in 2018 and addressed road safety, bank stability and stream habitat for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout by performing stream restoration at 10 remaining sites where construction of Coal Creek Road within the active floodplain of Coal Creek had caused excessive erosion, impaired stream function, and degraded fish habitat.
Partners:
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (the lead organization)
Bureau of Land Management
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative
Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust
3Y Livestock
Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments
Western Native Trout Initiative
Best weeks for site visits: The vegetation and overall watershed looks best (green riparian areas) in this part of Wyoming in June and early July each year.
Project Monitoring:
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department monitor fish and wildlife populations and habitat conditions and trends throughout this area at regular intervals, and Bonneville Cutthroat Trout populations will be evaluated in Coal Creek within five years of project completion. Wyoming Game and Fish will also use the Bank Assessment for Nonpoint source Consequence of Sediment (BANCS; Rosgen 2006) model for pre- and post-project monitoring to evaluate sediment contributions from each of the project sites.
Fixed monitoring locations for channel stability will be established. Monitoring will be done in at least two different years following bankfull or higher flows to document stability and performance of constructed features, the stream channel, and the road. Lateral and vertical measurements will be collected to document post-construction erosion rates. Photo points have also been established to document pre-project conditions and photos will be taken again in successive years.
Amargo Creek, New Mexico
Purpose of the project:
The Jicarilla Apache Nation (JAN) has enhanced six miles of the Navajo River and now is focusing on its tributaries to further native fish conservation. The Amargo Creek Connectivity and Habitat Enhancement project is restoring connectivity to the middle reach of Amargo Creek with the main stem of the Navajo River, providing habitat for Roundtail Chub, Flannelmouth Sucker, and Bluehead Sucker species spawning, rearing, and foraging activities, as well as, promoting the establishment of healthy populations of Speckled Dace and Mottled Sculpin. This project is the largest possible native fish repatriation area available on JAN lands and will result in an approximate 50% increase in river miles available to the fishes.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: Amargo Creek is located in the scenic mountains and rugged mesas of northern New Mexico near the Colorado border. This area is home to the Jicarilla Apache Nation and is world-renowned for its hunting, fishing, camping, boating and hiking opportunities.
Upon completion of the Amargo Creek Connectivity and Enhancement project biologists, tribal members, and partnering organizations are expecting to see a reverse in the declining quality and quantity of aquatic habitat, leading to the improvement of the overall health of numerous fish species and other aquatic organisms, as well as an increase in the quality and quantity of fish habitats. These benefits will not only be felt by the native fish occupying the creek but will also benefit the Nations local wildlife, waterfowl populations, and fisheries.
Project Timeline: The project is expected to be completed November 2019
It is estimated that the Amargo Creek connectivity and habitat enhancement project on the Jicarilla Apache Nations lands in New Mexico will result in the support of three tribal positions and an estimated $93,911 dollar increase in economic activity.
Partners: This project was funded and supported by the following partners; Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs Jicarilla Agency, Jicarilla Apache Nation, Southern Ute Indian Tribe,
The Amargo Creek connectivity and habitat enhancement project on the Jicarilla Apache Nations lands in New Mexico will reconnect the Navajo River with the eight miles of Amargo Creek on the JAN Reservation. The project is using large rock and woody debris to enhance the aquatic habitat while reopening up and downstream passage of migrating Colorado River Basin Fishes throughout the watershed. These measures will benefit a suite of Colorado River Basin fishes.
Upper Sycan River, Oregon
Purpose of the project:
The upper Sycan River supports one of the few remaining populations for two species of lamprey, the Miller Lake lamprey, and Pit-Klamath brook lamprey and has been designated as critical habitat for bull trout. In an effort to improve aquatic habitat conditions for these species as well as the Klamath Speckled dace the Fremont-Winema National Forest, Paisley Ranger District, Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership are working together to restore the riparian and floodplain functions along the river.
Through a combination of historic grazing practices, timber harvest, and road construction throughout the years the project area has experienced a loss of riparian vegetation and an altered hydrologic regime. These changes have had a negative impact and have led to eroding streambanks which have resulted in a down cut channel, a disconnection to floodplain terraces, increased levels of fine sediment, and a lack of aquatic habitat connectivity.
The projects’ goals are to restore the hydrologic function and aquatic/riparian ecological function along a 4.0-mile reach of the upper Sycan River to the benefit of aquatic species and riparian-dependent species.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The upper Sycan River project area has been designated a Wild and Scenic River, of which fisheries was one of the three outstanding remarkable values of the designation. This project will restore riparian, floodplain and instream aquatic conditions in a 4.0-mile reach of the river and will benefit both native fish species and sports fish by improving the water quality, stabilizing the stream banks, providing shade with native trees and plants, and increase water levels which could lead to cooler stream temperatures.
In addition, improved riparian conditions and reconnection to historic floodplains will also provide improved aquatic habitat conditions for Redband trout and critical habitat conditions for Bull trout.
Project Timeline:
The project will be completed over a two-year time frame and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2018.
Economic Calculator results:
As per a model developed by the Genter Consulting Group, the habitat enhancement aspects of the project alone will result in the creation of 3 additional jobs and an estimated $282,962.32 thousand dollar increase in economic activity.
Partners:
This project was funded by the following partners; Desert Fish Habitat Partnership,
Fremont-Winema National Forest, Paisley Ranger District
Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
Updates:
The Upper Sycan River Restoration Project is underway! The project has been progressing at a steady pace and will be completed in the summer of 2018. To date the project has accomplished:
Stabilized 1,200+ feet of actively eroding streambanks over a 1.0-mile reach of the Upper Sycan River. Created 20+ large wood complexes along 1.5 miles of the Upper Sycan River Improved conditions on 10 acres of riparian area on USFS land. Planted over 200 whole willows on USFS land. Created floodplain terraces with riparian restoration over a 1.0-mile reach.
Project Submission by:
The Desert Fish Habitat Partnership
Lake Shelbyville, Illinois
Purpose of the Project:
Lake Shelbyville is the second largest reservoir in Illinois and is an important recreational and economic feature in east-central Illinois. Habitat degradation threatens the viability of the fishery and the associated recreational and economic value. Lake Shelbyville has been impounded for 46+ years. Major habitat impairments include sedimentation due to sediment inputs from the watershed and shoreline erosion largely due to frequent water level fluctuations and loss of woody structure commensurate with the reservoir aging process. Very little dead standing timber remains in coves as most have decayed over the last 40 years. Long-duration floods, on occasion in excess of 12’, have further stranded woody habitat in uplands resulting in additional habitat loss. These floods have made conditions difficult for aquatic vegetation to establish. This lack of habitat and associated erosion and reduced water quality are negatively affecting the quality of the fishery and habitat restoration efforts have not kept up with losses. Standard management practices help maintain the quality of the fishery, but the standard reduction in quality with reservoir age continues with rippling economic effects throughout the community and region.
Habitat restoration efforts have been ongoing on Shelbyville with habitat efforts being intensified since 2013. Natural woody vegetation has been added in the form of Christmas trees and other locally available cedar and hardwood timber. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has invested over $2.5 million in shoreline stabilization efforts on the lake’s most erodible shorelines. USACE’s Research and Development Center (ERDC), Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility (LAERF), in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has developed a native aquatic vegetation management plan to help restore littoral habitat. An aquatic plant nursery has been constructed and native plants for transfer to the lake are being cultivated. Frequent floods previously mentioned has made an establishment of significant stands of native vegetation difficult. Project partners are currently focusing on constructing and placing “modified Georgia Cubes” locally known as “Shelbyville Cubes” to replace the woody structure. Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership funding ($30,000) has been used to purchase materials to build and place these structures. NFHP-funding has leveraged over $800,000 in partner funds over the current project timeline: September 2018 through December 2019
Project objectives include:
1) placing long-lasting structural and biological habitat: 2) inhibit shoreline erosion of key areas; 3) inhibit mobilization of sediment and nutrients, and 4) maintain connectivity of coves to the main lake. The benefits expected include increased complexity and diversity of habitat for fish and other wildlife, decreased turbidity, siltation, and nutrient loading for improved water quality. It is also expected to improve deepwater refuge availability during summer stratification to provide increased density of priority game fishes and other desirable organisms for greater quality of experiences for anglers, hunters, ecotourists, and increase local business revenue for increased quality of life for all residents within the influence of the reservoir. Project deliverables include up to 500 Shelbyville cubes (20,000 ft3), up to 250 Georgia cubes (10,000 ft3), 30 artificial logs, 30 artificial stumps, 4,800 ft2 of native aquatic vegetation plantings, doubling the size of the aquatic plant nursery to six 8’-pools and stabilize approximately 5,000 feet of severely eroding shoreline. The success of the project will be gauged primarily by the improved quality of the fishery, fish use of habitat structures, and secondarily by water quality improvements, bank stabilization, and reduced sedimentation. The Illinois Natural History Survey will monitor the success of the program through ongoing graduate student research efforts.
One of the most impressive aspects of this project is the large number of and diversity of project partners led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Other partners include: The University of Illinois-Illinois Natural History Survey, City of Shelbyville, City of Sullivan, Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance, Living Lands & Waters, Lake Shelbyville Volunteer Association, Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail, Central Illinois Crappie Club, Springfield Crappie Club, Lake Shelbyville Muskie Club, Champaign County Bassmasters, Crappie Camp, Central Illinois Crappie Club, Lake Shelbyville Muskie Club, Illini Muskies Alliance, Shawnee Muskie Hunters, Chicagoland Muskie Club, Springfield Crappie Club, Angler’s Choice Tournament Trail. Local business owners have worked within the community to obtain materials at reduced costs and supply volunteer labor to build and place the structures.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Local businesses have experienced an economic decline associated with the decline in the quality of the fisheries and decreased angler use. However, reports from the spring of 2018 indicate that fish are using the structures and angler-use has increased.
Project Timeline: September 2018 through December 2019
Economic Calculator results (based on cost estimates from 2013 through the present):
Create 42.6 jobs,
generate $4.70 in total sales,
$2.55 million in value-added creating income of $1.64 million over the 10-year implementation
Project Submission by:
The Reservoir Fish Habitat Partnership
East Branch Passumpsic River, Vermont
Purpose of the project:
Removal of this deteriorating dam improves natural flow regimes, free-flowing river conditions, water quality and temperature, sediment release and transport, and connectivity resulting in the restoration of Aquatic Organism Passage for native Brook Trout, sculpin and minnows; opening 99 migratory miles throughout the East Branch of the Passumpsic River sub-watershed. In addition, 3.4 acres of shrub-scrub wetland will be enhanced by removal of the dam and subsequent restoration work.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The East Burke dam is the last Aquatic Organism Passage impediment on the East Branch Passumpsic River up to its headwaters, which allows native Brook Trout access to important spawning habitat and thermal refugia. The East Branch Passumpsic River is also a popular fishing destination for Brook Trout anglers who will benefit from a more robust fishery.
Project Timeline:
2016 – Complete engineering design plans, obtain required permits, and hire a contractor for dam removal.
2017 - Facilitate on-site pre-removal meetings between the contractor, regulatory agencies and project partners, including local stakeholders; secure clearances to proceed with dam de-construction; ensure successful completion of dam removal activities as required by design plans and permits; and, implement riparian buffer plantings and other post-dam removal restoration activities in the fall.
2018 – Monitor the Dam Removal Project site on an on-going basis to document river condition changes and restoration survival rates for riparian plantings. Collect data on the population status of Brook Trout and other resident fish species.
Partners: Connecticut River Watershed Council (Project Lead), Passumpsic Valley Land Trust (Dam Owner), Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife (Technical Support), US Fish and Wildlife Service (Technical Support), New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (Funder), Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (Funder), and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Funder).
Project Submission by:
The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture
Indian River, Alaska
Purpose of the project: Source Document for this submission:
INDIAN RIVER WATERSHED COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
A Blueprint for Sustainable Management of Indian River, Sitka Alaska
By: Steve Paustian (Sitka Hydro Science) and
Jennifer Hamblen (Project Coordinator, Sitka Tribe of Alaska), May 2018
The Indian River watershed is an important asset with significant economic, ecological and cultural value to the community of Sitka, Alaska. In 2017, the Indian River Working Group was formed to improve communication and cooperation between different agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and community members with interests in the watershed. In addition to their participation as stakeholders, members also have voiced personal and organizational interest in ensuring that Indian River is managed to maintain or improve watershed values. These include trail systems, fishing and hunting opportunities, and exploring several hundred acres of intact old-growth forest just out Sitka’s back door. Primary goals informing the working group effort are:
1. Bring together stakeholders to develop a feasible watershed management strategy.
2. Provide a unique opportunity for collaboration and effective communication between stakeholders in the Indian River watershed.
3. Engage Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) to facilitate group discussions, manage data, develop partnerships and gain insights into watershed management techniques shared by other experienced natural resource managers serving in the working group.
4. Develop a prioritized list of action items to improve watershed stewardship and accomplish restoration objectives.
Indian River drains a 12.3 square mile (7,900 acre) basin with an elevation range from sea level to 3,700 ft (fig 1). This typical coastal temperate rain forest watershed setting sees an average annual precipitation of around 90 inches per year near sea level. In fall and winter months North Pacific storms bring large rainfall events (average October rainfall is 13 in). In this cool maritime climate, average air temperatures range from 34 to 55 degrees at sea level. Substantial winter snowpack accumulates at higher elevations in most years and is a major contributor to late spring and early summer stream runoff.
Development activities dating back to the early 1900’s along the lower Indian River corridor have resulted in substantial changes to channel morphology and fluvial processes. Some of the biggest impacts have been associated with gravel borrow activities in the river estuary beginning in 1940 and continuing to 1978 (Paustian 1995). Destabilization of the estuary channel network triggered accelerated bank erosion across the inter-tidal zone. Log-crib bank protection revetments constructed by the US Navy in 1945 were ineffective. Boulder rip-rap stream bank protection was placed by National Park Service in 1961 along with a 100 m section the west river bank and was followed by a major rip-rap rock structure extending 300m downstream to the 1804 Fort site. An unauthorized rock fill pad was constructed along the east bank of the estuary for a trailer park development in 1978 (fig 4). In addition, complicated land ownership and other impacts from the urbanization of the watershed have led to concerns with water quality and quantity as well as other localized habitat disturbances along and throughout the watershed.
Robust anadromous and resident fish populations in Indian River are important resources for community members and visitors to Sitka. Easy access for viewing large numbers of spawning salmon is a major draw for visitors to Sitka National Historical Park in the late summer and early fall. The Indian River watershed is also an important contributor to local commercial and recreational fisheries.
Primary anadromous fish species utilizing Indian River include pink, coho and chum salmon, steelhead trout and sea-run Dolly Varden char. A few king salmon (likely strays) have also been observed. Predominant resident fish species are Dolly Varden and rainbow trout.
Over the course of the past year, the working group participants were engaged in wide-ranging discussions of current watershed management issues and concerns that are summarized below. An outgrowth of these discussions was a list of specific management objectives that the group felt would improve ecological sustainability and maintain beneficial resource uses in the Indian River watershed.
Key stakeholder issues include:
? The Sheldon Jackson Hatchery -Sitka Sound Science Center is concerned about the current state of the hatchery diversion structure. The diversion design requires frequent and sometimes costly repairs after flood events. The associated fish pass structure also needs frequent maintenance. The hatchery requires consistent flows for hatchery operations including higher water demand during salmon spawning season. Maintenance of the flume and penstock drainage way through the Sitka Fine Arts Campus is also integral to the hatchery operation.
? Baranof Island Housing Authority has substantial residential holdings adjacent to the Indian River floodplain. Sediment deposition and channel braiding in the river associated with an abandoned logging road bridge structure and the hatchery diversion impoundment could negatively affect flood flow conveyance in this river reach.
? Sitka National Historical Park (SNHP) and other stakeholders are concerned about retaining ecological function and integrity of the Indian River corridor. In conjunction with this goal, SNHP will apply measures such as stream bank revetments and woody debris removal if necessary to protect the 1804 Fort Site from river erosion and the Pedestrian Bridge from flood-borne debris accumulations. SNHP also continues to be concerned about ecological impacts associated with unauthorized rock fill that was placed along the eastern edge of the Indian River estuary.
? The City of Sitka is concerned about retaining Indian River as a secondary municipal water supply for the community. Costly upgrades to the city water intake infrastructure and construction of a water filtration-chlorination plant would be needed to be fully in compliance with current drinking water regulations.
? Various stakeholders are concerned about meeting water needs for current beneficial water uses of Indian River; these include: backup municipal water supply for Sitka, sufficient water for SJH operations, and instream flows for sustaining salmon and other aquatic species.
? Sitka Fines Arts Camp is concerned about the integrity of the historic hatchery flume and underground penstock. Seepage from the flume ditch and underground wood stave penstock could affect foundations of campus structures.
? The National Park, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Sheldon Jackson Hatchery are concerned that large hatchery returns may home in on the river, resulting in over-escapement of pink salmon to Indian River spawning beds. This may negatively affect natural reproduction of fish in the river system and reduce the number of salmon available to harvest for hatchery cost recovery.
? Various stakeholders are concerned with maintaining access to recreational hiking, fishing, visitor interpretation, and subsistence gathering opportunities along the river corridor. Maintenance and improvements to the Sitka National Historic Park and Indian River trail systems, managed by the US Forest Service, are core elements of their concerns.
The following list of management objectives were brought forward to the working group for consideration. A total of 5 objectives (bold) were selected as consensus priorities to be addressed in the initial implementation phase of this strategy. Action items have been developed for each priority objective and are included in a full copy of the strategy report.
1. Develop plans for Sheldon Jackson Hatchery diversion and fish passage improvements that address concerns associated with flood conveyance, bedload sediment routing, upstream fish migration and maintaining adequate water supply for hatchery operations. This assessment and conceptual design process will kick off late summer 2018.
2. Maintain and improve salmon and aquatic habitat in lower Indian River by addressing concerns associated with water quality (non-point source pollution), stream channel stability, and aquatic habitat complexity.
3. Maintain the status of Indian River as a Municipal Watershed and as a secondary water supply for the City of Sitka.
4. Develop a cooperative water management plan that will help meet the water supply needs of all beneficial water uses by defining viable contingencies for dealing with periods of low water flow in the river.
5. Fill data gaps and monitoring needs associated with priority objectives and action items listed above.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Indian River watershed is an important asset with significant economic, ecological and cultural value to the community of Sitka, Alaska. The Indian River Working Group (IWRG) was formed to improve communication and cooperation between different agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and community members with interests in the watershed. In addition to their participation as stakeholders, members also have voiced personal and organizational interest in ensuring that Indian River is managed to maintain or improve watershed values. Through this Waters to Watch submission, SEAKFHP and the IWRG aspire to share the progress to date and future accomplishments in support of Indian River’s ecological integrity and community use.
Project Timeline:
June 2018-December 2020
Economic Calculator Results:
To date, $24,000 has been expended for coordination of the IWRG from the National Forest Foundation (supplemental coordination proposal has been submitted), and up to $80,000 from US Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Passage Program will be applied to the pending geomorphic assessment and conceptual design of the Indian River Diversion structure. Future phases may include final design, construction, and monitoring as contractual costs and in-kind services.
Output:
Jobs: 1.9463
Total Sales: USD 181,704.29
Value Added: USD 93,728.67
Income: USD 75,953.51
Partners:
Sitka Tribe of Alaska
Sitka Sound Science Center
Sitka National Historical Park
Alaska Raptor Center
Sitka Conservation Society
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Baranof Island Housing Authority
University of Alaska Southeast
US Army Corps of Engineers
US Forest Service
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
City & Borough of Sitka
Sitka Fine Arts Camp
Southeast Alaska Land Trust
Sitka Hydro Science
Project Submission by:
The Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership
Five Springs complex at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada
Purpose of the project:
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) supports the only endemic population of the critically endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish and the Ash Meadows Speckled Dace. In an effort to address the direct threats of small population size, genetic isolation, and to improve aquatic habitat conditions for the pupfish the Ash Meadows NWR, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and numerous other partners are working together to restore natural hydrologic connectivity between the Five Springs complex and downstream habitats.
This project removed non-native species and restored the natural historic floods that were hindered by a road and fallow field. This restoration has benefitted the Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish, the Ash Meadows Speckled Dace, and numerous other plant and animal species by improved fish passage and connectivity through the removal of barriers and impoundments, yielding increased genetic exchange for the pupfish, and increasing the available habitat for both the pupfish and the speckled dace.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge consists of 24,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert uplands that is so unique it’s been recognized as a wetland of international importance. These wetland sites around the world are known as Ramsar sites and Ash Meadows was one of the first Ramsar sites in the United States. Since its inception as a refuge, Ash Meadows has provided people the opportunity to experience an ecosystem unlike anything else found on Earth. Visitors who come to explore this desert oasis and its boundless natural beauty are often amazed when they see the numerous endemic plant and animal species and the stunningly gorgeous views offered by the ice blue springs and harsh desert landscape.
Project Timeline:
The project was completed in 2017
Economic Calculator results
As per a model developed by the Genter Consulting Group, the habitat enhancement aspects of the project alone will result in the creation of 13 additional jobs and an estimated $660,588.01 dollar increase in economic activity.
Partners:
This project was funded by the following partners; Desert Fish Habitat Partnership,
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Geological Survey
Nevada Department of Wildlife
Southern Oregon University
The Great Basin Institute
Dr. Andrew Martin
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Updates:
The Restoration of the Five Springs complex on the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge has been completed! The project restored 2,000 feet of stream channel and replaced a culvert that enabled the area to be reconnected to the historic channel. These efforts have resulted in naturalized springs and outflows and have made the downstream habitat needed for the long-term conservation of the endangered Ash Meadows Pupfish as well as the Ash Meadows Speckled Dace available once again. These measures have resulted in an increase in the Pupfish population and increased the genetic variability of the species.
Project Submission by:
The Desert Fish Habitat Partnership
Deep Creek Town Diversion, Oregon
Purpose of the project:
Restoring fish passage for Warner Lakes Redband Trout (State and Federal Sensitive species) and Warner Sucker (Endangered Species Act Threatened species) is the focus of this project. The primary limiting factor for fish in the Warner Valley Watershed (Oregon) is passage at irrigation diversion structures, especially on Deep and Honey Creeks. Limited water in the eastern Oregon desert means that Warner Basin streams are a critical water source to both irrigators and native fish. Several Warner Basin streams provide both irrigation water critical to local ranches, and spawning, rearing, and migratory habitat for Warner Basin Redband Trout, Warner sucker, and other native fishes. The low-lying portion of the Warner Basin provides the most fertile agricultural land in the area, as well as stream reaches critical to fish migrating from the large lakes in the valley upstream to high-quality spawning and rearing habitats. More than 10 diversions exist in the lower basin that provides water to irrigators and have been identified as fish passage barriers. The diversions make it impossible for large fish that rear in the Warner Lakes to access the prime spawning grounds in the upper basin on lands primarily administered by the Lakeview Bureau of Land Management and the Fremont Winema National Forest.
The Deep Creek -Town Diversion Project will address fish passage on Deep Creek. The Town Diversion on Deep Creek is believed to be a complete upstream fish passage barrier due to the vertical height of the irrigation weir relative to the channel elevation downstream from the weir. The diversion will be reconstructed with a rock ramp fishway designed to restore natural streambed conditions and provide passage for all native fish over the irrigation structure. The goal of the Town Diversion Fish Passage Project is to provide volitional passage for these two species, as well as other native fish species inhabiting lower Deep Creek. The passage at the Town Diversion will expand the amount of spawning, rearing, and holding habitat available to the Deep Creek fish community; increase population connectivity, and provide access to deep cold-water pools that provide summer refuge. Project designs are prepared, project roles have been established, and landowners are on board.
The Deep Creek - Town Diversion Project will complete a fish passage solution for a diversion dam that has been an upstream fish passage barrier for likely over 100 years. The proposed fish passage solution has been vetted by a multi agency and water user stakeholder group that has convened over the past five years to discuss fish passage on Deep Creek and the adjacent Warner Sucker tributaries. Replacement of the existing diversion dam and installation of an engineered roughened channel are expected to provide fish passage, restore watershed connectivity, and be a lower maintenance fish passage solution relative to other fish passage alternatives that were reviewed. The replacement dam and rock ramp will also improve the stability of the diversion structure. The existing dam is currently undermined and the concrete skin is no longer supported by underlying fill. Existing boulders will be repositioned and additional boulders will be imported to maximize rock ramp stability.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
For the last decade, the Warner Basin Aquatic Habitat Partnership has both independently and collaboratively worked to restore passage and connectivity for aquatic species in the Warner Basin, specifically the Warner Redband Trout, a state and federal species of concern, and the Warner sucker, an ESA listed threatened species. While each organization’s role has been slightly different, (for instance, monitoring, planning, outreach, or implementation) the vision was always the same: species recovery. The key to bringing this vision together is building and maintaining relationships with the local ranching community of Adel and Plush, Oregon. Agriculturally based, the Warner Basin is primarily managed to produce hay and raise beef cattle. Water is critical to both agriculture and fish habitat in the basin. Irrigation diversions and ditches have been identified as a primary threat to fish recovery in the basin. In the past five years, the Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, Soil and Water Conservation District, and their partners have tirelessly worked to improve these relationships by attending monthly water meetings and collaborating on ideas to put restoration actions on the ground. The partnership has successfully implemented projects that have provided local ranches with improved irrigation efficiency, while also providing for fish passage at diversions.
Project Timeline: This project will be fully completed in 2018.
Economic Calculator results:
Jobs: 8.9957
Total Sales: USD 858,310.06
Value Added: USD 529,099.31
Income: USD 366,753.38
Partners:
Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council
Bureau of Land Management, Lakeview
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Partners Program
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Lakeview Soil and Water Conservation District
Fremont Winema National Forest
Adel Water District
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
Project Submission by:
The Western Native Trout Initiative
Blanco River, Texas
Purpose of the project:
The purpose of this project was to implement landscape-scale conservation through a network of landowners that would willingly take restoration actions to address issues and threats that degrade water quality, reduce water quantity, and degrade riparian habitats that in turn favor exotic species. This network of willing landowners and subsequent habitat to support the repatriation of Guadalupe bass in the upper portion of the Blanco River. SARP funds were leveraged with state invasive species funds to combat the spread of invasive species that degrade instream and riparian habitats. A historic flood in May 2015 brought intense public interest in riparian restoration.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The Blanco River is one of the primary river networks in the Edwards Plateau that residents in Austin, San Marcos, San Antonio, and surrounding communities depend upon for drinking water, flood abatement, agricultural production as well as recreation (e.g. fly fishing, paddling, and birding. The number of Texans that participate in paddle sports has increased 300% over 10 years. According to TPWD, the economic impact of stream fishing in the Edward’s Plateau if valued at over $74M. This project will expand fishing opportunities for the State Fish of Texas to a river that is geographically located in the center of Austin-San Antonio corridor.
Project Timeline:
Previous Work (prior to this project work in preparation of a successful repatriation)
• Fall 2011-Spring 2012: Removal of Smallmouth Bass and hybrids from the upper Blanco River
• Spring 2012-Spring 2013: Stocking of genetically pure Guadalupe Bass fingerlings
Current project’s Timeline:
• Summer 2014-Fall 2016: Fish community surveys and black bass genetic assessments in the upper Blanco River
• Fall 2015-Spring 2017: Outreach to landowners to form the network of willing landowners.
• Spring 2016-Fall 2017: Implementation of on-the-ground restoration projects as well as providing technical guidance to landowners through the watershed to inform and encourage best management practices.
Economic Calculator results:
Jobs: 3.9047
Total Sales: $388,998.79
Value Added: $234,941.43
Income: $173,360.32
Partners: TPWD, TNC, Hill Country Alliance, SARP, TPW Foundation, Fredericksburg, TreeFolks, USFWS (via NFHP).
Summary project outputs:
• Purchased 3,300 trees (for distribution by TreeFolks, one of our local partners) to support the restoration of 350 acres of riparian habitats along the Blanco River
• Conducted 7 riparian restoration workshops, attended by approximately 450 Blanco River stakeholders
• Purchased and distributed 15,000 riparian sedges and grasses to stabilize flood-damaged river banks
• Several hundred packets of riparian recovery seed mix were purchased and distributed to “jump-start” restoration
• Onsite technical guidance on riparian restoration best management practices was provided to more than 50 Blanco River streamside landowners
• Collaborated with 67 individual riverside landowners to manage Arundo along 15 miles of Blanco River
• In partnership with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, published the Blanco River Restoration Design Guidelines manual
Project Submission by:
The Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
Bitter Creek, Wyoming
Purpose of the project:
Located just outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming is Bitter Creek, an 80 mile stretch of stream that provides important habitat to many species of fish, including the native Flannelmouth Sucker, a species that has been identified as one of greatest conservation need.
To ensure the Flannelmouth Sucker continues to flourish in Bitter Creek the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, Anadarko, BLM, Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI), the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department have partnered up to replace a failing drop structure. Over the last 40 years this drop structure has helped protect Flannelmouth Sucker populations by providing a fish barrier to invasive White Suckers, a species that is able to hybridize with Flannelmouth Suckers.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
By replacing the failing drop structure with an engineered structure in a more suitable location the water quality and habitat found below the drop structure in Bitter Creek will be improved. Additionally, the new structure will help reduce erosion and sedimentation that has been associated with the active head-cut found on the current structure.
Project Timeline:
The project is expected to be completed in 2018.
Economic Calculator results
As per a model developed by the Genter Consulting Group, the habitat enhancement aspects of the project alone will result in the creation of 18 additional jobs and an estimated $1,011,483.49 dollar increase in economic activity.
Partners:
This project was funded by the following partners;
Desert Fish Habitat Partnership,
Anadarko
Bureau of Land Management
Sweetwater County, Wyoming
Wyoming Department of Agriculture
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative
Updates:
The Bitter Creek Drop Structure Project is almost completed. The project faced a minor setback in 2017 due to extremely high water however, since then the project has been progressing at a steady pace and will be completed in 2018.
Project Submission by:
The Desert Fish Habitat Partnership
Big River, California
Purpose of the Project:
The project restored access for coho salmon and steelhead trout to an estimated 4,000 feet of potential spawning and rearing habitat in the upstream reaches of Manly Gulch, a tributary to the Little North Fork of the Big River, that was previously flowing through Camp 3 and a parking lot. Camp 3 was part of the New Deal, constructed in the 1930s by the WPA and the CCC – it was conceived as a place to introduce people to the world of nature. Annually, juvenile coho and steelhead were observed stranded in drying pools in the aggraded reaches and in the road ditch that conveys Manly Gulch into Rocky Gulch. These conditions allowed the project area to be classified as a RED (100%) barrier for both adult and juvenile salmonid ingress and egress to and from Manly Gulch. The specific objective consisted of restoration and realigning 600 feet of Manly Gulch to connect directly to the LNF of the Big River. This included a 70-foot long backwater alcove and 530 feet of large-wood controlled channel with gravel riffles, pools and large wood cover structure. The project also included installation of a new bridge crossing over Manly Gulch where it crosses State Park Road. The direct connection between Manly Gulch to the LNF Big also improved both flow conveyance and sediment transport continuity within Manly Gulch from upstream of the project area to the LNF Big, thus improving fisheries access and habitat, geomorphic function, and reducing risk of fish stranding. The project also provided off-channel high-flow refugia for juvenile salmonids during elevated flows in the Little North Fork of the Big River.
The specific objective consisted of restoration and realigning 600 feet of Manly Gulch, a tributary to the Little North Fork of the Big River (LNF Big), to connect Manly Gulch directly to the LNF of the Big River. This included a 70-foot long
backwater alcove and 530 feet of large-wood controlled channel with gravel riffles, pools and large wood cover structure. The project also included installation of a new bridge crossing over Manly Gulch where it crosses State Park Road.
The direct connection between Manly Gulch to the LNF Big also improved both flow conveyance and sediment transport continuity within Manly Gulch from upstream of the project area to the LNF Big, thus improving fisheries access and habitat, geomorphic function, and reducing risk of fish stranding.
The project also provided off-channel high-flow refugia for juvenile salmonids during elevated flows in the Little North Fork of the Big River. And it provided access for both juvenile and adult salmonids to more than 4,000 feet of spawning and rearing habitat in the upper reaches of Manly Gulch.
The Big River has received a great deal of attention during the past decade, with numerous organizations conducting restoration within that watershed. Restoration highlights for the Big River, include:
- 7 fish barriers removed
- 16 miles of stream made accessible to fish
- 647 large woody debris structures added for instream habitat
- 7.7 miles of instream habitat restored
- 23 miles of roads decommissioned or upgraded to reduce sediment loading to streams
- 44,500 cubic yards of sediment prevented from reaching streams
- 8,600 acres of riparian habitat restored
- 50 stream crossings removed or upgraded
Human Interest/Community Benefit: The Manly Gulch project is located within the Mendocino Woodlands State Park, a National Historic Landmark. Interpretive panels were installed at Mendocino Woodlands for visitors to the park to learn about the
significance of coho salmon in the Big River and the local restoration efforts in Big
River, particularly the Manly Gulch Coho Access and Habitat Restoration Project.
Project Timeline: This project was funded in 2016 by the California Fish Passage Forum, and was completed in 2017.
Economic Calculator results
Partners: Trout Unlimited, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Michael Love and Associates.
Project Submission by:
The California Fish Passage Forum
Bayou Pierre and Tributaries in Copiah, Hinds, and Lincoln Counties, Mississippi
Purpose of the project:
Extensive headcutting has resulted in increased sediment loads within Bayou Pierre and its tributaries, which has negatively impacted habitats used by several fish species including the Federally threatened bayou darter. Over 50% of the land adjacent to Bayou Pierre has been converted to fields or pastures causing increased bank erosion and sediment loads. The purpose of this project will install conservation measures to reduce sediment and improve water quality within the Bayou Pierre systems by leveraging existing conservation practices available through programs in NRCS and other landowner assistance programs.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The bayou darter is only found in the Bayou Pierre River and its tributaries. Habitat degradation due to increased sedimentation has been identified as a major contributor to the reduction in bayou darter numbers. This system also is important to a number of other fish species and local recreation users. Numerous game fish occur in the Bayou Pierre and will be benefited by this project including white bass, spotted bass, largemouth bass, black crappie, white crappie, bluegill, warmouth, green sunfish, black bullhead catfish, longear sunfish, and redear sunfish. These populations will increase through habitat restoration. These projects will also increase food sources for these game species and benefit the bayou darter, a Federally threatened species, endemic to the Bayou Pierre River and its tributaries.
Project Timeline:
2015-2016: Specific project site selection, survey, and design of proposed conservation practices.
2016-2018: Installation of conservation practices for previously identified projects.
Economic Calculator results:
Jobs: 3.4786
Total Sales: $293,464.21
Value Added: $166,541.19
Income: $123,565.64
Project Partners: Jackson Mississippi Ecological Services Office (USFWS), NRCS, and the Bayou Pierre Watershed Enhancement Group, Fish America Foundation, Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Various Private Landowners.
Project Submission by:
The Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
Roosevelt Lake, Arizona
Roosevelt Lake is the upper-most reservoir of a four-reservoir chain in the Salt River watershed. Roosevelt Lake is the largest and is formed by Theodore Roosevelt Dam constructed in 1911 by the Bureau of Reclamation. Roosevelt Lake is located on the Tonto National Forest (TNF) in central Arizona almost entirely within Gila County. At full capacity, the lake is approximately 22 miles long with nearly 128 miles of shoreline with a water surface elevation of 2151 feet. The reservoir can store approximately 1,653,043 acre-feet (AF) of water at maximum conservation pool. The lake level fluctuates over time in response to water use, evaporation, and annual precipitation and runoff. As of June 2017, the lake is 69% full at an elevation of 2124ft with approximately 17,129 surface acres.
Roosevelt Lake provides a variety of recreational and environmental benefits with an estimated 451,242 angler use days per year (Fisheries Branch 2015). The lake is one of the top bass fishing lakes in Arizona and has been the destination of premier bass tournaments such as WON BASS Roosevelt Pro/Am (2012). However, electrofishing surveys in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013 indicated declines in largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill populations. Anglers have expressed concerns over the fishery declines and local communities, having felt the economic impacts of this decline, have contacted Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) to work cooperatively to reverse the declining trends in the fishery.
The decline in the fishery may be explained by a variety of factors including invasion and establishment of non-native gizzard shad, water quality (e.g. golden algae), diseases (e.g. largemouth bass virus), and lack of habitat due to the aging reservoir syndrome and the fluctuating levels. Roosevelt Lake has never had a fisheries habitat enhancement project and recent habitat analysis conducted at lower water levels (2070-2090 foot elevations) using side-scan sonar revealed minimal complex habitat available throughout the main lake body. The cumulative impacts of these stressors have negatively affected multiple species populations. There is also minimal ability to address each of the stressors due to limited availability of appropriate tools, methods, and feasibility. However, a collaborative partnership has been formed to address habitat issues.
The objective of the project is to improve fish community structure by providing structural habitat needed for various life stages of a variety of sport species important to the recreational fishery. The project targets structural habitat improvements to a minimum of 50 acres of the 2,719 littoral acres available between surface elevations 2060ft and 2080ft within the next ten years. We are seeking to provide a diverse array of structural habitat that will have a positive effect on multiple life stages of sportfish and their prey. The types of artificial structures being installed include Concrete Fish Balls, Mossback and Fishiding structures, and Georgia cubes, along with brush bundles comprised of native trees. The AZGFD, with the assistance of the local community, completed 620 volunteer hours and stockpiled a large number of structures for deployment. The AZGFD received a grant for $33,584.50 from the RFHP in FY2017. Partner contributions total $176,614.50 ensuring a robust addition of structural habitat. This effort is ongoing and will continue with local support and future support from the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership (RFHP) and Friends of Reservoirs.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
Local businesses have experienced an economic decline associated with the decline in the quality of the fisheries and decreased angler use. These communities have contacted Arizona Game and Fish to work cooperatively to reverse these declines.
Project Timeline: May 2017 through December 2027
Economic Calculator results:
Create 23.5 jobs,
generate $2,487,428 in total sales,
$1.29 million in value
added creating income of $936,124 over the 10-year implementation
Partners:
Arizona Game and Fish Department in partnership with the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, Midweek Bass Friends of Reservoirs, Don McDowell Friends of Arizona Reservoirs, Tonto Basin Community, Tonto National Forest, and anglers have proposed to conduct a long-term (20 years) habitat enhancement project at Roosevelt Lake to address the habitat issues. Multiple Angler Roundtable meetings have been held in Tonto Basin to discuss the project and its. AGFD has initiated a media campaign that includes outdoor radio shows, websites, blogs, and newsletters to both inform and garner public support and raise funds for the project.
Tincup Creek, Idaho
The Tincup Creek Stream Restoration project will improve riparian conditions and habitat for a full assemblage of native fishes such as Longnose and Speckled dace, Sculpin, Redside shiners, Mountain suckers, the rare Northern Leatherside chub, and Yellowstone Cutthroat trout. In addition, at least three other aquatic or semiaquatic species of interest are present including a native pilose crayfish, western pearl shell mussel, and a unique clade of boreal toads. These are all native species with a special management emphasis. Because of the assemblage of these native species, and the degraded yet recoverable nature of the system, Trout Unlimited (TU) and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF) have chosen to focus their efforts here.
A review conducted using historical aerial photos and on-the-ground knowledge shows a system that was very much intact in 1953 as primarily a single-thread channel with a high density of willows. In 1956, aerial spraying conducted in the drainage eliminated the majority of the willows. Remnants of the historic channel indicate historic bank full widths of 15 feet, versus bank full widths of up to 30 feet found currently. The 1964 and 1976 photos show a stream that became a braided, over-widened gravel bed system, while willows gradually returned. Currently, the willow community has greatly recovered. However, there are lingering effects to the system that will take decades to recover without restoration or intervention. The evidence of this degradation is the many outside meander bends are raw, vertical and eroding, rather than being stabilized by willows. Further adding to the impairment is the loss of channel length due to meander cutoffs, the resulting steepening of the gradient, and the 1 to 3-foot downcutting of the channel, leading to an unhealthy, disconnected floodplain and riparian zone.
This project is not being designed to stabilize the stream in place, but rather to re-elevate it to restore the functions and processes that make for healthy habitat, floodplains, and riparian zones. During mark-recapture studies of Northern Leatherside chub in this drainage, CTNF found the greatest concentrations associated with beaver dams and in the area of previous restoration work where large woody debris was used to stabilize eroding bends. By focusing on restoring floodplain connectivity, proper channel dimensions, and old meanders using native willows and sod as well as imported wood, habitat for native species will be improved.
Once this multi-year project is completed a full 4 miles of degraded stream will be restored. Many benefits are expected, including a healthier floodplain and riparian area – with a shift toward more mesic species in the floodplain as overland flow increases, especially in the spring. Beaver populations and dams are expected to increase as runoff forces are better dissipated on the floodplain instead of staying in-channel. Habitat diversity and complexity are expected to increase with more rearing and hiding cover available to different life stages and different fishes. Northern Leatherside chubs are expected to increase in population density due to greater habitat complexity and beaver activity (especially in the upper reaches of the project area). The sediment load in the system will decrease due to the treatment of eroding banks. Sediment deposition will also decrease as the channel is narrowed and fines are more easily transported down the system. These improvements should result in higher reproductive success and recruitment, with surges expected in population densities of all native fishes. Most of all, project partners expect to see a healthy and functioning riparian system that continues to improve through time.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: Throughout the years the awe-inspiring majesty of many of the United States western waters have been reduced through the damning of rivers and the creation of cities and towns as our population across the country has grown. While the convenience of better jobs, shorter commutes, and access to a plethora of dining and shopping venues is wonderful, the downside is the diminishing appreciation and use of our countries federal and state lands for hunting, fishing, and general leisure activities. There are now few who regularly enjoy a backdrop as unique and beautiful as the one found at Tincup Creek.
Tincup Creek in Bonneville and Caribou Counties is 37.0 miles in length and flows from an elevation of 9,076 to 5,741 feet. This high elevation stream historically provided locals and visitors with excellent fishing opportunities. By restoring Tincup Creek to its natural historic state visitors and locals alike will be able to once again enjoy the beauty of a healthy stream filled with delightfully tasty and eye-catching fish. To protect this incredible resource, Trout Unlimited, the U.S Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many others have banded together to develop and implement this high-priority restoration project.
The first phase of this project was funded with $44,000 in National Fish Habitat Partnership funds, $150,140 in federal funds, and $58,760 in non-federal funds for a total project cost of $252,900.
Project Timeline:
The project will be completed over a three-year time frame. Phase I started in August of 2017. Phase II is scheduled for August 2018 and Phase III is expected to be completed in 2019.
Economic Calculator results:
As per a model developed by the Genter Consulting Group, the habitat enhancement aspects of the project alone will result in the creation of 28 additional jobs and an estimated $1,234,851.48 million dollar increase in economic activity.
Partners:
This project was funded by the following partners; Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, Western Native Trout Initiative, U.S. Forest Service, Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited, Jackson Hole One Fly, Snake River Cutthroats Trout Unlimited, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Additional in-kind support was provided by Agrium, Bear Lakes Grazing Association, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, grazing permittees and Caribou County.
Newport Bay, California
The overall goals of this project are to return historically present (but currently depleted) species to the area, enhance habitat quality and connectivity for fish and wildlife, improve water quality, control erosion, and help adapt to sea level rise. PMEP’s funding will help to integrate native Olympia oyster habitat restoration into a larger multi-species restoration project in Upper Newport Bay in Southern California. The project has added 240 square meters of oyster habitat and 1,280 square meters of eelgrass habitat.
Restoration of oyster reefs and eelgrass beds will return many ecosystem services back to the area’s coastal wetlands. Oysters increase the abundance of fish and wildlife through the creation of complex habitat and improve water quality through filter feeding. Oysters also stabilize sediments, buffer erosion, and attenuate wave energy, which will reduce impacts of sea level rise. Eelgrass meadows provide similar ecosystem services, including habitat and foraging grounds for many invertebrates, fish, and bird species; nutrient cycling; carbon sequestration; sediment stabilization; and water quality improvement. Simultaneous restoration of the Olympia oyster and eelgrass has never been attempted in southern California, but smaller restoration efforts of both species individually in Newport Bay have been successful. Because of the benefits, these species may have on each other, integrated restoration of the two species is the logical next step to recover greater ecosystem connectivity and function to Newport Bay.
Preliminary analysis of in-shore sediments shows plots with restored eelgrass have experienced an accumulation of finer grained sediments, suggesting that the restored eelgrass beds may be starting to mitigate in-shore erosion.
Human Interest/Community Benefit: We believe the creation of this more complex habitat mosaic which more closely resembles historic connectivity, will support a more diverse and abundant fish community. The ecosystem services provided by healthy oyster reefs and eelgrass beds help improve water quality and attenuate wave energy, benefiting the surrounding community and visitors. The project involves a robust group of community volunteers in the restoration and monitoring efforts. This has increased community engagement and stewardship in Newport Bay.
The project has involved many members of the community in a variety of aspects including University presentations, community events and engaging volunteers hands-on in restoration activities. Over 150 volunteers participated in the oyster field implementation in April 2017. In addition, Coastkeeper hosted oyster bag making workshops with students and Universities including Soka University, Saddleback University, Concordia University of Irvine and with the girl scouts of Southern California. To date, the project has utilized over 2,549 volunteer hours by over 450 volunteers.