| Oregon Plan Stories |
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| Rogue Basin |
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Curry Fish Passage Restoration
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Conditions before and after culvert replacement on Iron Creek. Photos by Lower Rogue Watershed Council.
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Fish passage to headwater streams in the Rogue Basin has been compromised by roads built over the past decades. The overall project, which involved the Curry County Road Department, local watershed councils, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), helped fish passage on three different streams. These projects are typical of efforts to address legacy effects of historical land use practices that have adversely affected salmonids in the South Coast.
In Iron Creek, a tributary to South Fork Lobster Creek, and its tributaries, a barrier restricted fish passage for Coho, fall Chinook, winter steelhead, resident cutthroat and resident rainbow trout. The culvert was far too small for fish passage and in poor condition, while the crossing had the potential to deliver sediment to the creek. This project, partly funded by the U.S. Forest Service and implemented in summer and fall of 2004, designed and implemented a crossing that allowed for fish passage and opened up habitat above the crossing to salmonid spawning.
Edson Creek, a tributary to the Lower Rogue River, previously supported fall Chinook populations and is considered potential Coho habitat. Hatchery fish from the Indian Creek fish hatchery are released into Edson Creek downstream of the project site. The project site was a bridge located just downstream of the confluence of the east and west forks of Edson Creek. Concrete had been poured over an abandoned asbestos-pipe waterline in the stream channel in an attempt to stabilize it, but over the years the concrete had broken apart and become a barrier to fish migration. In response to this situation, the Nesika Beach-Ophir Water District, Lower Rogue Watershed Council, ODFW, Curry County Road Department, and OWEB joined forces in funding, planning, and implementation. In July of 2004, work on the waterline was completed, and the bridge was replaced in August. Since no problems arose during the execution of the project, monitoring is expected to reveal significant improvements in fish passage.
Sucker Creek Gravel Push-Up Dam Removal
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The pump station on Sucker Creek.
Photo by Illinois Valley Watershed Council.
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Sucker Creek, a tributary to the Illinois River, has been identified as the best Coho salmon stream in the Rogue Basin. Sucker Creek is water quality limited for temperature with sedimentation, flow, and habitat concerns. In the Sucker Creek Watershed, the irrigation ditches used to deliver water were old and required intensive maintenance. In the late 1990s, it became clear to the community that it needed to find an alternative to the instream, gravel, push-up dams used by water users to divert water from the creek to irrigation ditches.
The solution to was design and engineer water delivery systems consisting of pump stations, screened intakes, buried pipelines, and electrical service to replace the gravel push-up dams. The Illinois Valley Soil and Water Conservation District and Illinois Valley Watershed Council worked with the Oregon Water Resources Department to coordinate point of diversion transfers. Other partners included the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and Oregon Department of Agriculture.
The project was completed in 2004 and improved six miles of habitat for Coho, steelhead and Chinook. One push-up dam was permanently removed and replaced with a pump station and buried pipeline.
Upper Elk Creek Helicopter Wood Project
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| Creek conditions before large wood. |
Large wood complex in Bitterlick Creek. |
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Wood being placed by helicopter.
Photos by U.S. Forest Service
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The Bitterlick Creek and Sugarpine Creek sub-watersheds are located within the Elk Creek Watershed, which is important for anadromous fish. Elk Creek was selected as one of the top five watersheds for restoration under the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest “Integrated Work Planning” Process.
The objective of this project was to complete placement of instream large wood to replicate reference conditions found in stream surveys of west Cascade geology. This would maximize the potential of freshwater habitat to rear Coho salmon and steelhead trout. Primary habitat benefits would be increased pool habitat, sorting of gravels for spawning and insect habitat and nutrient storage.
One hundred and forty (140) pieces of wood averaging approximately twenty-four inches or larger in diameter and fifty (50) feet in length were placed in three miles of stream within the two sub-watersheds. Approximately one mile of the project was located on private lands owned by Boise Cascade. Wood was hauled to the site and staged in three locations before placement. Wood was placed by a helicopter (Boeing Vertol) capable of lifting 9,500 lbs. Most wood was placed in complexes or jams; no attachment with cable or rope was employed. Most of the wood was placed with considerable length on the streambank or terrace, upstream of a large hardwood or conifer, for stability.
The project was very effective at placing large wood complexes from the air in the two streams without appreciable disturbance to the existing riparian forest. Habitat changes occurred after the rainy season caused higher streamflows to move stream bed materials and sort wood and gravel in the two stream channels. It is expected that considerably more optimum spawning gravel will be available to Coho salmon and steelhead as a result of the project. Stream surveys have been accomplished to record baseline conditions and subsequent surveys will quantify habitat changes.
Partners include the Boise Cascade Corporation, Upper Rogue Watershed Association, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.
The 2005-2007 Biennial Report provides more information about accomplishments in each watershed basin.
Return to watershed basin map
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