CCR-47627 - Funding added for steel express foundations, engineering services, and equipment fuel/rental to assure funding is sufficient to complete the project within the in-water work window.

The Trout Creek Watershed Restoration Project’s primary goal is to improve the habitat (in-stream, riparian, and upland), providing a more resilient landscape to the effects of climate change, while increasing the carrying capacity for native salmonids in Trout Creek and its tributaries.  The species of focus are the ESA listed Middle Columbia River DPS Summer Steelhead and their counterpart, the interior redband trout.  The status of the summer steelhead population in Trout Creek, within the Deschutes River eastside DPS is currently rated as a viable population (Oregon Mid-C Steelhead Recovery Plan, 2010).  The confidence for making this population assessment “viable” is largely the result of the BPA funded programs associated with this project.  Past project work, the continued maintenance and monitoring of this work, along with the proposed habitat restoration to be completed in future years will keep this population viable, or even someday move the MCR DPS population to highly viable.

This project satisfies the goals listed in the Deschutes River Sub-basin Summary (Nelson, 2001), the Deschutes Subbasin Plan (2004) that addresses Trout Creek, and the Trout Creek Watershed Assessment (2002).  This project satisfies the objectives of Reasonable and Prudent Alternative 35 of the 2008 FCRPS Biological Opinion, Tributary Habitat Implementation 2010 to 2018, calling for protection and improvement of tributary habitat based on biological needs and prioritized actions.  This project also follows the habitat strategies and actions found in the Oregon Middle Columbia (Mid-C) Steelhead Recovery Plan (2010).  Since the last ISRP review in 2013, the Trout Creek Basin Long-Range Action Plan & Restoration Accomplishments document was prepared by the Jefferson SWCD and ODFW and can be found on the CBFish.org website.

The Jefferson SWCD has successfully implemented many large-scale projects in the past 23 years.  In this time, we have managed to restore function to more than 13.2 miles of stream channel & floodplain habitat, removed 24 seasonal irrigation barriers, and eliminated 2 passage barriers, opening an additional 6 miles of habitat to migrating adult steelhead.  Refer the Trout Creek Basin Long Range Action Plan & Restoration Accomplishments for more detail on past accomplishments.  This has been implemented at an extremely low cost to the BPA.  We have been able to keep costs exceptionally low because of our in-house knowledge and experience.   With our working relationship with ODFW – Trout Creek Project, we have put high quality conservation on the ground at the lowest costs seen anywhere in the Columbia Basin.  Combined with our ability to secure funding from other sources to help offset costs from BPA, and our ability to perform the work “in-house” from start to finish, we have been an extremely efficient project since our inception, more than doubling funding received from BPA for habitat improvement in the Trout Creek Watershed.  The Trout Creek watershed covers 692.4 square miles, with 117 miles of stream currently available to summer steelhead, so there is still great opportunity to continue improving the habitat well into the future.

Planned Projects:

All projects are designed to improve fish habitat, water quality and quantity in the Trout Creek basin.  Projects within the riparian zone that directly impact the stream will be conducted during the in-water work period (July 1 - October 31) as dictated by ODFW guidelines.  All projects will follow all pertinent state and federal law, regulations, and executive orders.    

Trout Creek Vegetation Improvement:
This project will plant native seed in designated riparian exclosures and disturbed upland areas throughout the Trout Creek Watershed.  Areas that have been freshly scoured with recent high-water events may be re-seeded with native seed mix.  Areas that have been treated for noxious weeds will be a priority for this work element. We will locate areas with exposed soil or little vegetation and broadcast native seed in those areas within the Trout Creek Watershed.  These sites may coincide with sites treated through the Trout Creek Noxious Weed Program.  Re-vegetating the disturbed ground will help stabilize the soil and reduce overall erosion and sediment entering the streams/waterways in the watershed.  

Trout Creek Noxious Weed Program:
Continue the noxious weed program for the Trout Creek Watershed for the 12th year, the tenth in conjunction with the Jefferson Co. Public Works and local licensed applicators, and now the 4th with the newly formed Jefferson County Weed Advisory Committee (JCWAC).  Collaborate with Public Works and JCWAC to provide them with herbicide to be used in the Trout Creek Watershed on "A" list weeds.  Collaborate with the County to provide them with herbicide to be used in the Trout Creek Watershed on "A" list weeds. The County will disperse herbicide to approved landowners and apply the chemical as well.  Coordinate with local licensed applicators that are spraying on private property in the Trout Creek Watershed to potentially provide herbicide for "A" list species.  The SWCD will continue to apply chemical to known weed patches throughout the watershed.  The program will attempt to control noxious weed species that are found on the county's "A" list.  These include Scotch Thistle, Spotted Knapweed and Yellow Starthistle.  We will continue to monitor areas with known biological control on certain weed patches to determine if more biological control is necessary or if herbicide will need to be used.  Ensure the proper reporting from the SWCD and the County to provide accurate accounting of herbicide use to EC.

Future Project Design:
The JCSWCD will continue to collaborate with ODFW on project designs.  This fiscal year, we plan to devote a lot of time to future project designs.  The Foley Creek Complex entails relocating a road, reconfiguring stream channel location and confluences, as well as removal of undersized culverts and installation of two open arched culverts and re-setting a concrete bridge that fell into the creek during the 1998 flood. We will continue to work in conjunction with the HIP3 Team throughout the design process on all projects to ensure the best possible product for the resource.  By the end of fiscal year 2021, we plan to have a complex design that follows the HIP guidelines that can be implemented in FY23.  Another project is the Lower Beaver Creek Channel Habitat and Fish Passage Improvement Project.  This project will address a perched culvert on the county road, as well as poor habitat from the road to the confluence with Trout Creek.  We also plan to have a design that follows the HIP guidelines and process that can be implemented in FY22.  

Beaver Creek Fish Passage and Floodplain Reconnection Project:
The Beaver Creek culvert located on the county road is now “perched” above the stream bed and is an upstream fish passage barrier at most flow levels. By restoring the upland processes to natural historic conditions, an estimated 2.8 miles of suitable habitat for summer steelhead will be available upstream of this barrier once it is removed.

To achieve this barrier removal, a "Bottomless Culvert" is proposed to replace the existing "perched" standard corrugated metal pipe culvert. The Jefferson Co. Public Works engineer will finalize design prior to installation in 2022. BPA's Habitat Improvement Program (HIP) Biological Opinion with NOAA Fisheries guidelines will be followed during the design and installation process.

In the lower reach of Beaver Creek, below the county road, instream and riparian habitat has been limited by extensive channel modification that resulted in a straightened channel. This has led to a simplified channel habitat, where the straightened stream has incised and down-cut to a base elevation that is disconnected from the floodplain and thus the water storage capability that was present historically is only at a fraction of historic levels. The resulting stream flow is now extremely flashy and with no hydrologic connection to the floodplain, summer base flows are extremely low limiting steelhead fry rearing area and production. The low water table and scour from high flashy flows limits the establishment of riparian vegetation and the allochthonous inputs needed for a resilient and complex food web limits the potential fish and wildlife production in this reach. These habitat limitations have negatively affected all life stages of ESA listed Mid-Columbia steelhead, as well as resident fish and aquatic species. Additionally, the poor riparian habitat limits life history stages for a large variety of wildlife species that are extremely dependent on riparian areas in these arid regions.

To address these conditions, we are planning to construct a new channel from the culvert to the confluence with Trout Creek. The new channel will have the proper pattern, profile and dimensions to accommodate the natural stream flow regime and sediment load found at the site. Eight (8) pools will be incorporated into the new channel configuration with associated large wood structures that will provide stream bank stability, pool maintenance, and fish habitat and cover. The adjacent floodplain, with added roughness features, will be excavated at elevations equivalent to the bankfull event (1.5 year) to ensure inundation at regular intervals, enhancing the habitat and hydrologic function of the stream reach. Extensive surveying and modeling will be conducted, following the protocol of the HIP3 Biological Opinion with NOAA Fisheries, to finalize the design and installation process. Design and construction of the project will be done by Jefferson SWCD and ODFW project managers, building on their 15 years of experience doing this exact type of work throughout the Trout Creek Watershed.

Watershed Coordination:
The JCSWCD will continue to assist ODFW on their day-to-day operations when timing allows.  These activities include performing redd surveys, assisting with smolt trapping, operation of the video fish weir, and applying herbicides.  

Habitat Restoration Project Development:
The Jefferson Co. Soil and Water Conservation District (JCSWCD) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) have developed a collaborative approach to project prioritization, development, and implementation. JCSWCD and ODFW Project Managers have collaborated from start to finish on habitat restoration project development, funding, design, construction, and monitoring. The experience and unique skill sets of the JCSWCD and ODFW personnel minimizes the need for expensive outside contracting, engineering, and consulting. This coordination has worked well on past projects and has resulted in quality habitat restoration at a low cost to BPA. BPA funding has allowed for the establishment of a quality population monitoring program that has given insight to the population size, as well as revealing information that assists in the planning and development of current and future habitat restoration actions. Based on 49 years of combined experience and observation in the Trout Creek Watershed, the ODFW and JCSWCD Project Managers have gained the necessary knowledge and relationships with the landowners in the watershed. This information along with numerous planning documents and assessments has allowed us to prioritize stream reaches and upland habitats that provide the best restoration opportunities.  With the current funding level that BPA provides the JCSWCD, extensive on-the-ground habitat projects can not be implemented without the assistance from outside sources.  These sources include the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and Portland General Electric (PGE).  Once a project is identified, pursuing these funding sources for grant funding is a painstaking, time-enduring exercise necessary to continue to improve habitat in the Trout Creek Watershed.