Big Meadow Creek Hwy 8 Culvert Passage

Big Meadows Creek is an upper tributary in the Potlatch River drainage near the City of Troy in Latah County, Idaho. A Distinct Population Segment of ESA-listed steelhead inhabits the Potlatch River drainage including Big Meadows Creek, a tributary to the West Fork Little Bear Creek. High numbers of juvenile steelhead are in the West Fork Little Bear drainage; however, survival is limited due to habitat constraints. Modification of a culvert at the mouth of Big Meadows Creek to make it a more passable structure will open critical habitat upstream for spawning and rearing of steelhead. This project installed 19 steel baffles inside the culvert and three rock weirs downstream of the culvert. The baffles are spaced approximately eight feet apart and are angled from one side to the other creating two feet of head on one side and one foot on the other. This project made 7.5 miles of upstream habitat accessible for fish.

The project was completed on schedule; the original scheduled end date was incorrectly entered into the database.

This project will implement action in the Potlatch River, a priority watershed for restoration, which will improve fish passage and benefit the Lower Mainstem Clearwater River steelhead population, Clearwater River MPG and Snake River steelhead DPS as directed by the NMFS 2016 proposed recovery plan.