Habitat Improvement in the Wood, Williamson & Sprague Rvr Sub-basins of Upper Klamath Lake, Klamath Cnty 2017-2018

The Projects completed with these funds included installation of large wood (instream fish structure) on the Gnesa property (lower Williamson River), installation of 0.5 miles of riparian fencing on the Kingfisher Ranch (lower Williamson River), installation of an offstream watering facility on Kingfisher Ranch to keep cattle off the river bank and riparian area, and State Historic Preservation Office compliance contract.

Large wood will add shade, cover, and habitat complexity for all life stages of Chinook Salmon and Redband Trout specifically targeting newly emerged young of the year and adult spawning salmonids. Large wood will also improve organic retention and provide back eddies for young of the year Redband Trout, while also reducing incident solar gain leading to increased water temperature. Large wood will improve survival of all life stages of Chinook Salmon and Redband Trout by reducing predation and providing substrate for benthic insect production through an increase in habitat complexity and stability.

When forestry operations occurred throughout the basin, natural woody debris was removed to ease the downstream movement of logs. Large wood has been removed from waterways in the Upper Klamath Basin on multiple occasions which likely reduced the productivity of the watershed (Hamilton et al 2016). The efforts within this proposal would be directed at mimicking natural processes as efficiently as possible to rehabilitate habitat prior to Chinook Salmon reintroduction.

Riparian fencing and offstream watering protect the streambanks from erosion and nutrient loading.

Cattle grazing and past other human disturbances have greatly reduced the amount and size of woody vegetation along the riparian corridors of the local streams and rivers. Protecting and planting native riparian vegetation will provide a more healthy and diverse riparian habitat.