Upper Joseph Creek Restoration
Statement of Work and Budget FY2005

BPA Project Number:  1992-026-01
BPA Project Title: Grande Ronde Model Watershed Program
Contract Number:  New
Contract Title:  Upper Joseph Creek Restoration
Performance/Budget Period:  May 1st - December 31, 2005

Technical Contact Name:  Ken Bronec
Technical Contact Title: Biological Technician
USFS, Wallowa Valley RD
88401 Hwy 82
Enterprise, OR 97828
541.426.4978 / 541.426.5522
kbronec@fs.fed.us

Contracting Contact Name: Erin Melville
Contracting Contact Title: Project Officer
Wallowa Resources
PO Box 274 / 200 W North St.
Enterprise, OR 97828
541.426.8053 / 541.426.9053
erin@wallowaresources.org

Financial Contact Name: Kathy Reynolds
Financial Contact Title: Finanacial Manager
Wallowa Resources
PO Box 274 / 200 W North St.
Enterprise, OR 97828
541.426.8053 / 541.426.9053
kathy@wallowaresources.org

Project Location:  
This project is located Chesnimnus, Devils Run and Elk creeks in the Upper Joseph Creek Watershed, Wallowa County, Oregon.  Please refer to the attached project map for more detail.

Project Objectives:
The overall objective of the project is to improve riparian and stream conditions in Devils Run, Chesnimnus and Elk creeks in the Upper Joseph Creek Watershed, continuing implementation of project recommendations developed through the Upper Joseph Creek Watershed Assessment (see also www.wallowaresources.org/ujc_assessment).

Specific project objectives are:
· Improve streambank stability
· Improve habitat for fish and other wildlife
· Improve stream width to depth ratios
· Decrease sediment input to steams
· Improve juvenile fish passage

Project Description:

Introduction:
The project is designed to improve water quality, instream habitat, and riparian areas for threatened steelhead and a variety of other wildlife species within the Upper Joseph Creek Watershed.  Modification of in-stream structures, water gap improvements and removal of a sediment hazard in combination with monitoring are proposed to enhance the existing condition.  Components of this project have been identified through site-specific observations by fish biologists, wildlife biologists, hydrologists, as well as recommendations developed through the Upper Joseph Creek watershed assessment.

Existing Condition:
Numerous passive and active restoration projects have been implemented in the Upper Joseph Creek Watershed to improve riparian vegetation, channel morphology and complexity, water quality and fisheries habitat.  While many of these projects have produced their intended results, some have generated unintended consequences.  An example of this includes the instream structures installed in Chesnimnus Creek in the mid-1980s.  The intent was to provide scour holes for fish rearing habitat and increase the amount of large woody debris in the creek system.  However, most structures now exhibit excessive bank scour on the downstream side of the structures and are barrier to juvenile fish passage.  Reconfiguring these structures will allow for juvenile fish passage and stream narrowing, while increasing fish habitat complexity with the addition of whole trees in the downstream (Segment A) portion of Chesnimnus Creek.

The 4625-550 rd had a bridge that spanned Devils Run Creek.  The bridge platform has been decommissioned, but the wood abutments were left in place and are now rotting and crumbling into Devils Run.  There is a lot of sediment backfilled behind these abutments that has started to slough into the creek.  A moderately high flow event has the potential to release a very large plug of sediment into, and potentially even damming, this stream which provides spawning and rearing habitat for endangered Steelhead trout.

Specific Actions:
Task 1: Modify 36 in-stream structures (see attached map and photographs) to allow for complete juvenile fish passage and improved habitat diversity.  Instream structures (also called check-dams or log weirs) were installed in many of the Forest Service creeks in the mid - 1980s for two main purposes: 1) to slow stream incision and store sediment behind logs thereby locally aggrading the stream, and 2) to create scour pools and fish habitat in streams over-widened from a variety of current and historic management practices.  Instream structures were considered the best technology at that time and were installed with great fervor across the nation without regard to differences in channel morphology (stream type) or complete consideration of all hydraulic forces that would be at work around the structures.  

In Chesnimnus, each instream structure was created from a 30-60 ft. long, 1.0-2.5 ft. diameter log placed level and perpendicular to streamflow.  The ends of these logs were secured in place by burial in the banks and a large gabion basket placed on top of each end (refer to attached photos of instream structures).  Wire mesh was placed on the streambed extending 3 ft. upstream from each log.  Geo-textile (waterproof) material was placed on top of the wire mesh and was stapled to the mesh and log to keep water flowing over, not under, the log structure.  Most structures were slightly notched in the middle to help funnel water at low flows toward the middle of the creek downstream.  

Years of experience and research have taught us that not all streams benefit from this type of structure.  B-type streams can handle considerable amount of organic debris and flow blockages without developing adverse impacts, whereas streams with pool-riffle morphology like C-, E- and D-type channels can be adversely affected (Rosgen, 1996).  

Chesnimnus is a C-type stream with pool-riffle morphology and has not benefited from these instream structures.  The structures promote downstream bank scour through hydraulic forces associated with a large horizontal obstruction perpendicular to streamflow, widening the creeks 100-200% immediately downstream and perpetuating that width every year during high flow (refer to attached photos).  In addition, the geo-textile material designed to keep water flowing over the structure is now torn, allowing water to filter through the substrate or flow through a narrow opening under most log structures at low flow, which inhibits juvenile fish passage.  The wire mesh underneath the material is now rusted, broken and exposed, creating a hazard to aquatic species, wildlife and humans alike.  

This Instream Structure Modification Project will remove the geo-textile material, the rusty wire and the gabion baskets, and reconfigure the structure log, sometimes in conjunction with whole trees, to allow year-round juvenile fish passage, allow the streambanks to heal inward, and allow natural processes to take over maintenance of channel morphology and pool habitat.  Dave Rosgen, PhD and Registered Professional Hydrologist wrote, "Unfortunately, the check-dam design often adds to channel instability by decreasing sediment transport capacity, increasing width/depth ratios, accelerating headward aggradation, initiating lateral migration, and accelerating streambank erosion. Our challenge now is to restore the natural stability and natural function of rivers" (Rosgen, 1996).  This project intends to do just that.  

Instream structures were installed in Chesnimnus, Peavine, Devils Run and Elk Creeks in the Upper Joseph Creek (UJC) watershed in the mid-1980s.  The structures in Elk Creek are smaller than those in Chesnimnus, Peavine and Devils Run and have been modified by hand by the Forest Service in 2001 and 2003, with further modification to take place in 2005.  The structures in Chesnimnus, Peavine and Devils Run Creeks are much larger and require heavy machinery to modify.  This project is Phase I of a 4-Phase, or 4-year, effort to modify these instream structures and improve juvenile fish passage and hydrologic processes in the UJC watershed, and is in-line with the riparian recommendations to come out of the Upper Joseph Creek Community Planning Process.  Phase I (contained in this proposal) will involve modifying the 36 structures most downstream in Segments A and B of Chesnimnus Creek.  Phase II will involve 80 to 100 structures further upstream in Chesnimnus Creek in Segments C and F, the final number to be determined by field assessment in 2005.  Phase III will involve 47 structures in mainstem Peavine and East Fork Peavine Creeks, and will be combined with a culvert extraction/ road decommissioning project.  Phase IV will involve an as yet undetermined number of instream structures in Devils Run Creek.

Heavy machinery will be needed to remove, maneuver and re-bury the logs, create pools, push over whole trees and carry them to creek, shake out the gabion baskets, and remove stream substrate from on top of the geo-textile material and underlying wire.  Where logs are re-buried in the bank, vegetation/ sod will be removed and set aside when digging the trench and replaced on top of disturbed area where it will have the greatest chance at re-stabilizing the soil.  Headcutting is of no concern at these sites and significant bank erosion from structure modification is not expected to occur, although there may be localized areas of erosion as the stream adjusts to the reconfigured structures.  

Whole trees may be harvested near each site if approval is granted to harvest select trees in the RHCA that do not provide shade and would not ordinarily reach the channel if blown over.  One or two whole trees approximately 22 inches in basal diameter and 1.5 times the bankfull width, including branches and rootwads, will be added to each reconfigured log in large woody debris (LWD) deficient reaches to help create small log complex.  Large woody debris additions help retain smaller gravel in the system, reduce the stream power of larger flow events, and add hydraulic roughness which leads to increased pools and spawning gravels, and therefore greater channel complexity.  This is especially important in lower reaches of Chesnimnus Creek.

Following are general descriptions of the modifications with specific structure numbers associated with that modification.  Technical advice for this task is being provided by the Regional Aquatic Restoration Assistance Team.

Every structure modification will involve the following two actions:
· Gabion baskets will be cut open with bolt cutters and the contained rock deposited on site, usually in the overly-widened section of stream near the bank just downstream from the gabion basket to assist in channel narrowing.  If the channel is not overly-widened, the rock will be deposited on the top of the bank near the former location of the gabion basket.  The empty basket will then be removed and taken to a landfill.
· All geo-textile material and wire mesh upstream of and attached to the structure will be removed by hand and taken to a landfill. Substrate that has moved on top of the material/mesh combo will be removed and repositioned after the material and underlying wire are removed.  All scraps of material and/or wire found in the vicinity will be removed as well.  

Following are actions that are proposed for the instream structure modifications:
· Instream structures that do not promote bank-edge scour downstream but maintain mid-channel scour pools and do not pose a juvenile fish passage barrier may be left in place. Structures that have shifted or blown out since installation but are not causing channel instability and structures that are in an abandoned piece of channel may be left as well.
1. Chesnimnus Segment A structure #s 9, 14, & 23  
2. Chesnimnus Segment B structure #s 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, & 17  

· Remove log and re-bury in the left or right bank angling upstream at 20-30 degrees from the bank with the outer end below bankfull elevation and keyed in (buried) for approximately ½ its length for stability.  These structures would occur where no more Large Woody Debris is needed (refer to attached drawing):  
1. Chesnimnus Segment A structure # 20
2. Chesnimnus Segment B structure # 21

· Remove log and place on left or right bank angling down into stream as well as angling downstream, with approximately 50% of the log remaining on the bank.  These structures would occur where no more LWD is needed:
1. Chesnimnus Segment A structure # 18
2. Chesnimnus Segment B structure #s 2, 5, 8, 11, & 18

· Remove log and re-bury in the left or right bank angling upstream at 20-30 degrees from the bank with the outer end below bankfull elevation and keyed in (buried) for approximately ½ its length for stability.  One or two whole trees will be added on top of bole with rootwads facing downstream.  These structures would occur where more Large Woody Debris is needed (refer to attached drawing):  
1. Chesnimnus Segment A structure #s 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 15, 17, 21 & 22
2. Chesnimnus Segment B structure #s 1, 3, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 19 & 20

Deliverable: Improved fish passage and stream function at a minimum 25 in-stream structures

Task 2: Remove Devils Run bridge abutments.  Road fill will be pulled back from behind bridge abutments to match the contour of the canyon on both sides of Devils Run at that point.  Fill will be piled on old roadbeds on both sides of Devils Run and contoured to match local topography.  The rotting abutment logs will be removed and strewn about the site - in the creek, on the banks and adjoining hill slopes - with pieces of wood containing metal spikes placed furthest from the creek.  The bottom-most log on either side of the creek will be left to help protect the new banks from scour.  Exposed ground will be seeded with a native seed mixture after deconstruction.

Deliverable: Elimination of an imminent sediment hazard to Devils Run Creek.

Benefits: Benefits from this project should include the following:
· Improved juvenile fish passage
· Improved streambank stability
· Decreased sediment input to steams
· Improved habitat for a fish and other wildlife

Improved fish passage will be realized in <2 years.  The other benefits will be realized in 2-10 years, resulting in improved watershed conditions and habitat for all fish and wildlife over the existing condition.

Project Maintenance:
The USFS will be responsible for the maintenance of the instream structure modifications.

Permits:
ESA consultation and NEPA will be completed by April 2005 for the BPA funded portion of this project.  A Division of State Lands permit will also be obtained by April 2005 for the in-stream portion of this project.

Monitoring Plan:  
Monitoring for the Upper Joseph Creek Restoration Project, to be completed by US Forest Service and Wallowa Resources, will include:
· Final report describing project implementation
· Pre- and post-work photo points with repeat photography for a minimum of three years
· Noxious weed surveys at all ground disturbing sites

Work Dates:  
June 15, 2005 to December 31, 2005.