Project/Contract History:
The Restoring Anadromous Fish Habitat in the Big Canyon Creek Watershed, project 1999-015-00, began in 1999.  This multi-year project focuses on restoring and improving anadromous and resident fish habitat within the Big Canyon Creek watershed.  The limiting factors addressed include low summer flows, habitat connectivity, loss of all or partial floodplain, sedimentation of spawning and rearing habitat, wide fluctuation in annual stream flows, high summer stream temperatures, and lack of in-stream cover.  Past accomplishments have included the installation of land improvement projects to address these limiting factors, including 3,000 acres of direct seed cropland tillage systems, 6,000 linear feet of grassed waterways, 3,000 LF of fencing, 6 alternative water systems, 23 water and sediment control structures, 15 acres of weed control, two livestock waste systems, 5,000 LF of riparian plantings, and the development of 15 habitat conservation plans.

Status and Trend and Implementation/Effectiveness monitoring:  The Nez Perce Tribe conducts the monitoring and evaluation required to determine population status and trends, as well as the physical and biological response to the habitat/watershed restoration efforts.  The Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District (District) utilizes the Nez Perce Tribe's monitoring information to prioritize habitat improvement and site specific project areas.  Since the majority of the land within the watershed is privately owned, the District also coordinates with the landowners to obtain project approval for both the NPT and the NPSWCD to continue habitat restoration activities.

Summary of FY 07 Contract:
In response to the ISRP and NPCC 2007-2009 proposal comments, and BPA's Implementation Decision, 2007 contract activities will be limited in scope.  The primary project objective during the 2007 contract year is to analyze and compile the stream habitat data collected annually since 1999, and develop a joint 10-year Restoration Plan, between the NPT and the NPSWCD, for the Big Canyon Creek Watershed.  This data will be analyzed and converted into a GIS-compatible format.  Once in a GIS-compatible format, the data will be combined with other available, watershed-wide data sets currently being developed by the Nez Perce Tribe and the NPT Water Resources Division.  These data sets will likely include some or all of the following: 1.) Thermal imagery, 2.) LiDar Imagery, 3.) water quality data, and 4.) riparian canopy analysis.  The synergistic effect of combined data sets will help to provide an accurate assessment of the status and health of the aquatic resources within the Big Canyon Creek Watershed.  This assessment will allow us to spatially prioritize the implementation of future watershed protection and restoration projects.    

In addition to the development of a 10-year Restoration Plan for the watershed, it is necessary to continue some additional project activities, that began in FY 2006 on private lands, through the 2007 contract year.  These limited, ongoing activities include five acres of riparian revegetation, ten acres of non-native, invasive plant treatment, 1,500 acres of direct seeding, landowner outreach and education, and the identification and selection of future projects.  The implementation of these ongoing projects will ensure that landowners and community members do not withdraw support for our watershed restoration program.