Contract Title:
1984-021-00 EXP JOHN DAY HABITAT ENHANCEMENT
Contract Start Date:
3/1/2024
Contract End Date:
2/28/2025
Title:
J: 29 - Sixmile Creek - Increase Aquatic and/or Floodplain Complexity
Description:
ODFW staff will assist with the implementation and provide construction oversight. BPA funding commitments will be limited to staff time associated with the 2024 implementation efforts including the placement of approximately 64 BDAs, 77 PALS, and 52 small wood structures ranging from 1 to 3 logs. ODFW will also complete fencing installation (WE K). Equipment, supplies, materials, and subcontractor funding has been obtained by NFJDWC and includes $139,000 in OWEB and $25,000 in PCSRF. The USFS has been the lead for ESA permitting under the Partners Programmatic and the cultural resource consultation.
This project will take place on Sixmile Creek, a tributary of the lower Middle Fork of the John Day in Ritter, Oregon. Specifically this first phase of work will above the 15 road culvert. The Ritter Fish Habitat Assessment performed in 2021 identified several deficiencies in fish habitat on Sixmile Creek as well opportunities to improve hydrologic function and water storage. Limiting factors within the creek include degraded riparian area, channel structure and complexity, floodplain degradation, altered hydrology, sediment, water quality, and low flows. A general lack of instream complexity driven by a lack of wood structures drives the vast majority of these factors. This project proposes to improve fish habitat and watershed function in Sixmile Creek via the placement of large wood structures and construction of beaver dam analogues (BDAs) and post assisted log structures (PALS).
This project will also involve planting (NFJDWC 2025) and fencing to improve stream shading and riparian conditions. This project is a cooperative effort between the North Fork John Day Watershed Council (NFJDWC), the Ritter Land Management Team (RLMT), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). NFJDWC will be the project lead, providing primary project oversite, contract oversite, planting, some materials, and project monitoring. RLMT will assist with project oversite, planting, and maintenance, ODFW will provide direct assistance with implementation as well as consultation to project design and oversite of instream work. USFWS will provide assistance with permitting and funding for habitat improvements on two additional properties.
This project will improve instream habitat conditions creating potential spawning and rearing habitat for Mid-Columbia steelhead to utilize as soon as potential passage barriers are addressed in subsequent phases of work. In the more immediate term, benefits to steelhead will be realized as the stream already hosts a relatively robust redband/rainbow trout population which have the potential to outmigrate and recruit into the overall steelhead population. Habitat work performed as part of this project will improve conditions for resident O. mykiss which will benefit native fish populations. Additionally, this work will improve watershed function increasing water quality and improving water storage which will serve to directly impact water quality and quantity in the Lower Middle Fork of the John Day. The 6 Mile Creek project is located in the Middle Fork John Day River watershed and is ranked as a Tier 3 priority watershed within the John Day Basin under the Atlas prioritization, with an opportunity score of 35.
Objective
1. Treat 1.66 linear stream miles with low tech process based restoration techniques to increase habitat
availability, increase floodplain inundation, reverse channel incision, and reduce flow velocity and periodicity.
Large wood structures will be created by tipping or felling large conifers (10"+ DBH) into the stream at desired angles and racking smaller to medium wood against the larger logs. Large wood structures will serve to slow velocity, raise the water level, create pools, trap sediment, and inundate the floodplain where possible. BDAs will be constructed with a combination of wooden posts and native material including branches, cobbles, and mud. BDAs will serve to slow velocity, raise the water level, create pools, trap sediment, and inundate the floodplain where possible. PALS will be constructed with wooden posts and larger branches. PALS will serve to slow velocity and create roughness and complexity. PALS are specifically targeted at areas of more severe channelization and incision and are intended to slow water and redirect the energy of flow to allow sediment to collect. PALS will be implemented in complexes of 6-8 rather than as individual structures and are usually implemented in conjunction with other structure types. In addition to the three structure types, small to medium woody materials will be added to the stream opportunistically in conjunction with other structure types.
Fencing efforts have been included in WE K.
Planting will be conducted in 2025 by the NFJDWC. BPA funding is not anticipated.
While the project may result in some improvements to side channel and floodplain connectivity over the long term that result is not expected to be immediate and as such these WE's have been omitted.
WE Agreement Type:
Contracted
Deliverable Specification:
Increase aquatic and floodplain complexity on 1.66 miles of stream through the addition of LWD, BDAs, and PALS.
WSE Effective Budget:
$55,000
% of Total WSE Effective Budget:
10.20%
WSE Completion:
11/28/2024
WSE ID Continued From:
[Unassigned]
WSE ID Continued To:
[Unassigned]
Finite or Recurring:
Finite
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