Contract History:

The Protect and Restore Mill Creek Watershed, 2000-036-00, has been an on-going project since 2000.  This project is being completed in cooperation with the Nez Perce National Forest (NPNF).  The ultimate goal of the project is to restore the physical and biological characteristics of the watershed to provide quality habitat for anadromous and resident fish species that support the historical, cultural and economic practices of the Nez Perce Tribe.  The Mill Creek watershed contains high habitat potential for steelhead trout and bull trout, and has moderate habitat potential for spring Chinook salmon.  Restoration in this watershed focuses on restoring riparian processes by addressing increased water temperatures, cattle grazing degradation, fish passage issues, and noxious weed infestations.  Previously completed contract work includes culvert assessment and prioritization, 4 culvert replacements, over 10,700 riparian trees planted, installation of 3.0 miles of fence, and continued monitoring and evaluation.

Summary of FY 2009 - 2010 Contract Work:

This project is part of the Nez Perce National Forest-Nez Perce Tribe Watershed Restoration Partnership with in kind contributions from the Nez Perce National Forest.  This year's new contract work includes:

A) Technical review of the Big Canyon Creek culvert replacement-
This project will replace an existing 36" round culvert that failed in the spring of 2008 with a larger culvert located at T29N/R4E/Sec.27.  The replacement will increase the capacity of the culvert and reduce the chances of failure in the future preventing excess sediment from entering Mill Creek and impacting all life stages of aquatic species, including juvenile spring Chinook and steelhead.  This culvert will be replaced in FY09 by the Forest Service (Nez Perce National Forest) under a separate BPA-NPNF contract of this project, and the Nez Perce Tribe will assist in bid package preparation, contractor selection, technical oversight, final inspection, and the associated implementation and effectiveness monitoring and evaluation.

B) Replacement of Bridge #3 (Road 309) on Mill Creek-
Bridge #3, which is located in T29N/R4E/Sec.27 on Mill Creek, was evaluated in 2008 and critical members of the wooden structure show degradation and the beginning signs of eventual failure.  Additionally the current alignment of the structure encroaches on the natural stream channel impacting steam velocities and hydrology.  Replacement and realigning the bridge will eliminate the possibility of adding sediment to the stream due to failure, and will reduce steam velocities at certain stages which can impact migration and habitat for certain life stages of aquatic species, including juvenile spring Chinook and steelhead.  Design and construction for the bridge replacements are a cooperative effort between the NPT and the NPNF.  The Forest Service generally takes the lead, and the Nez Perce Tribe reviews and approves all designs before being solicited for bids on construction projects.  The bridge will be designed in FY09 and replaced in FY10 by the Forest Service (Nez Perce National Forest) under a separate BPA-NPNF contract of this project, and the Nez Perce Tribe will assist in bid package preparation, contractor selection, technical oversight, final inspection, and the associated implementation and effectiveness monitoring and evaluation.

C) Technical review for Mill Creek slide restoration-
The culvert on Road 309 at Big Canyon Creek failed in the spring of 2008 resulting in a massive landslide that temporarily plugged Mill Creek at milepost 2.0.  The landslide resulted in severe erosion and mass failure greatly adding to the sediment in Mill Creek and severely damaging the road adjacent to the stream.  Restoration work is currently being designed and reviewed for implementation in FY09/FY10 that includes repairing the damaged sections of road and protecting the road to prevent further erosion into Mill Creek, relocating a diverted section of Mill Creek back to its original location, removing some of the slide material to restore floodplain capacity to prevent further erosion, and replanting, armoring, and using bio-engineering techniques to revegetate and protect the riparian zone in the area of the slide.  This restoration work will be completed by the Forest Service (Nez Perce National Forest) under a separate BPA-NPNF contract of this project, and the Nez Perce Tribe will assist in bid package preparation, contractor selection, technical oversight, final inspection, and the associated implementation and effectiveness monitoring and evaluation.

D) Riparian planting-
The meadow habitat in upper Mill Creek has lost over 90% of its riparian vegetation since 1930.  It is virtually devoid of riparian vegetation, so this project will re-vegetate the riparian zone by planting an estimated 5,000 native riparian trees within the Mill Creek upper meadow area, and in the area of the Mill Creek Slide mentioned above.  Species of trees to be planted include Drummond willow, Thinleaf alder, and Red osier dogwood.

E)  Culvert Inventory-
In FY02 the NPNF (Nez Perce National Forest) identified approximately 60 stream crossings in the Mill Creek Watershed for analysis.  Approximately 40 potentially fish bearing 2nd order and greater streams, as well as low-gradient (i.e., <10%) 1st order streams were surveyed; the remaining 20 high gradient, low priority culverts were not.  As a result of the failure of the Big Canyon Creek culvert in FY08 the remaining 20 culverts will be surveyed to determine their likelihood of failure.  Culverts will be inventoried using the National Inventory and Assessment Procedure for Identifying Barriers to Aquatic Organism Passage at Road-Stream Crossings (USFS 2005).  This protocol takes into account several variables associated with the culverts, including stream crossing type, culvert skew angle, diversion potential, flood prone channel width, fill slope length and height, calculated 100-year flows, drainage area, and risk of failures up and downstream.  The culvert data will then be analyzed to rate the risk of failure and erosion potential should they fail.

F)  Inventory and Assessment-
As a result of the massive landslide mentioned above that originated in Big Canyon Creek and impacted Mill Creek, a complete inventory and assessment of the Big Canyon watershed above the failure at Road 309 and the lower Mill Creek watershed below the landslide will be conducted.   Roads, culverts and other road crossings, existing landslides, stream habitat, and riparian condition will be inventoried.  Data will be collected on features in the watershed to analyze the potential for future failures and the possibility of preventing or reducing their impacts.  This inventory and assessment will be used to plan and prioritize projects which may be scheduled for implementation in FY 2010 and 2011.

G) Invasive Species Inventory and Treatment-
Revegetation success on past projects has proved limited where noxious weeds are present.  In addition, infestations of noxious weeds provide little efficacy for preventing soil erosion.  Without incorporating treatment of noxious weeds into our projects we will ultimately limit our success in restoration, particularly where reduction of sediment and revegetation are concerned.  A reconnaissance level inventory of corridors of invasion, including roads, trails, riparian zones, and disturbed areas in Mill Creek for encroachment of non-native, invasive plants will be completed.  Following the inventory, treatment of an estimated 10 miles of roads infested with invasive species will be implemented using chemical and mechanical means.  

H) Fence maintenance-
Three miles of fence were constructed between the years of 2000 & 2001 to protect critical meadow habitat in the upper Mill Creek Meadow area.  The fence requires annual maintenance to repair windfall, snow and human damage.

I) Continued monitoring and evaluation-
Project effectiveness monitoring:  A monitoring protocol for culvert replacements will track the status of habitat within and around the culvert, as well as the stream channel' s reaction to the newly installed culvert.  Monitoring for culvert replacements includes fish surveys above and below culverts, channel grade, in-culvert substrate, and profile measurements.  A report on the success of previously and newly installed culverts will be completed.  Monitoring is scheduled for the Corral Creek,  Merton Creek, and the Big Canyon Creek culverts in FY 09 and the Big Canyon Creek Culvert in 2010. Initial culvert monitoring was completed on Corral Creek in 2004 and on Merton Creek in FY 08.

Status and Trend Monitoring: A monitoring protocol for selected stream habitat reaches will track the status and trends of Mill Creek.  Data will be collected on fish abundance and distribution, macro-invertebrates, flow, temperature, sediment composition, and habitat parameters to include channel morphology, valley width index, Wolman Pebble counts, cobble embeddedness, large woody debris, bank stability, noxious weeds, and riparian condition and density.  This data will be summarized in a monitoring report, showing trends of conditions as a result of watershed restoration activities.  Three reaches on Mill Creek are scheduled for monitoring in FY 09 and FY10. Monitoring of some of the parameters at these reaches began in FY 2000 and periodic monitoring has occurred annually since FY 2000.