Fry Creek Floodplain Restoration

Salmonid Habitat Restoration and Acquisition

Fish Passage Improvement Instream Habitat Riparian Habitat
Project ID004 19 CW
Recovery DomainsSnake River
Start Date01/01/2020
End Date12/31/2022
Year2019
StatusCompleted
Last Edited02/27/2024
 
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Description    


Fry Creek, tributary of the East Fork Potlatch River, is designated Critical Habitat for anadromous steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Prior to the Fry Creek Floodplain Restoration project, the channel was deeply entrenched and disconnected, with little perennial habitat. Peak flows rarely inundated the floodplain because of historic logging railroads, deforestation, uncontrolled recreation, beaver extirpation, and overgrazing. Fry Creek would go completely dry in late summer when juvenile steelhead in the East Fork Potlatch River are most sensitive to flow reductions because of these additive impacts.



The Fry Creek Floodplain Restoration project was designed to create local steelhead habitat and improve downstream conditions by increasing the duration of summer flows, elevating the water table, and rehydrating formerly isolated floodplain. The Idaho Department of Lands accomplished this by (1) hardening two headwater stream fords and blocking two unauthorized and rapidly eroding fords, (2) regrading historic railroad berms, (3) removing and regrading a former pond and excluding cattle with fencing, (4) installing beaver dam analogs and log jumbles, (5) constructing faux beaver dams and two channel diversion structures, (6) creating new channel to activate historic floodplain channel, (7) inserting spawning substrate (gravel), and (8) reseeding and planting 2.1 acres of disturbed channel and floodplain, and treating weeds.



The expense of sod harvest/salvage and replanting far exceeded the cost estimate. A budget increase was requested to cover the cost.

Project Benefit    


The primary goal of the project is to improve steelhead population status in the East Fork Potlatch River basin by improving the quality and extent of coldwater habitat (NMFS 2017). IDL intends to accomplish this goal by increasing the duration of perennial flows coming from Fry Creek and entering the East Fork Potlatch River, including specifically eliminating zero-flow intervals. A secondary objective of the project is to improve habitat quality and complexity in Fry Creek itself (reducing turbidity, increasing substrate size, inducing heterogeneity in water velocities, increasing pool depths; Reiser 2008), allowing steelhead to spawn and rear locally. The most straightforward method to achieve these goals is to establish an active colony of beavers in Fry Creek (Pollock et al. 2018). However, until Fry Creek becomes perennial, beavers are unlikely to naturally colonize the stream or remain there if translocated. Fry Creek almost has the perennial flows necessary for colonization by both beavers and steelhead, and the Fry Creek floodplain restoration is intended to lengthen the duration of flow until the watershed passes that threshold.

Accomplishments

Metric Completed Originally
Proposed
Instream Habitat
  Stream Miles Treated 1.31 1.12
Riparian Habitat
  Stream Miles Treated .96 .56
  Acres Treated 2.1 .9
Fish Passage
  Barriers Removed 4 4
  Miles Opened .90 .90

Funding Details

SourceFunds
PCSRF$205,924
In-Kind Donated Labor$12,788
In-Kind Other$55,246
Report Total:$273,958


Project Map



Worksites

WS-1    


  • Worksite Identifier: WS-1
  • Start Date: 06/01/2020
  • End Date: 10/31/2022
Area Description
Fry Creek

Location Information

  • Basin: Clearwater (170603)
  • Subbasin: Clearwater (17060306)
  • Watershed: Upper Potlatch River (1706030608)
  • Subwatershed: East Fork Potlatch River (170603060801)
  • State: Idaho
  • Recovery Domain: Snake River
  • Latitude: 46.8672
  • Longitude: -116.3478

ESU

  • Snake River Basin Steelhead DPS

Map

Photos

Metrics

Metrics
  • C.0 Salmonid Habitat Restoration and AcquisitionY (Y/N)
    •      . . C.0.a Habitat restoration and acquisition funding 273,958.00
    •      . . C.0.b Length of stream treated/protected 1.31
    •      . . C.0.c
      Project identified in a Plan or Watershed Assessment
    •      . . C.0.d.1 Project Monitoring (LOV)
    •      . . C.0.d.2 Monitoring Location (LOV)
    •      . . C.2 Fish Passage ImprovementY (Y/N)
      •      . . . . C.2.a Fish Passage Funding 5,640.00
      •      . . . . C.2.b.1 Length of stream made accessible .90
      •      . . . . C.2.b.3 Type of blockage/barrier (LOV)
      •      . . . . C.2.b.4 Number of blockages/impediments/barriers impeding passage 4
      •      . . . . C.2.c.1 Fish passage blockages removed or altered (other than road crossings reported in C.2.f to C.2.i)Y (Y/N)
        •      . . . . . . C.2.c.2 Number of blockages/impediments/barriers removed/altered 4
      •      . . . . C.2.h.1 Rocked ford - road stream crossingY (Y/N)
        •      . . . . . . C.2.h.2 Number of rocked fords placed 2
        •      . . . . . . C.2.h.3 Miles of stream made accessible by rocked ford placement .90
      •      . . . . C.2.i.1 Road stream crossing removal Y (Y/N)
        •      . . . . . . C.2.i.2 Number of road crossings removed 2
        •      . . . . . . C.2.i.3 Miles of stream made accessible by road stream crossing removal .90
      •      . . C.4 Instream Habitat ProjectY (Y/N)
        •      . . . . C.4.a Instream Habitat Funding 105,924.00
        •      . . . . C.4.b Total length of instream habitat treated 1.31
        •      . . . . C.4.c.1 Channel reconfiguration and connectivityY (Y/N)
          •      . . . . . . C.4.c.2 Type of change to channel configuration and connectivity (LOV)
          •      . . . . . . C.4.c.3 Miles of stream treated for channel reconfiguration and connectivity 1.10
          •      . . . . . . C.4.c.4 Miles of off-channel stream created through channel reconfiguration and connectivity .21
          •      . . . . . . C.4.c.5 Acres of off-channel or floodplain connected through channel reconfiguration and connectivity 17.9
          •      . . . . . . C.4.c.6 Instream pools created/added through channel reconfiguration and connectivity 7
        •      . . . . C.4.d.1 Channel structure placementY (Y/N)
          •      . . . . . . C.4.d.2 Material used for channel structure (LOV)
          •      . . . . . . C.4.d.3 Miles of stream treated through channel structure placement .96
          •      . . . . . . C.4.d.4 Acres of streambed treated through channel structure placement
          •      . . . . . . C.4.d.5 Pools expected to be created through channel structure placement 31
          •      . . . . . . C.4.d.6 Yards of average stream-width at mid-point of channel structure placement project (Yards)
          •      . . . . . . C.4.d.7 Number of structures placed in channel 31
        •      . . . . C.4.f.1 Spawning gravel placementY (Y/N)
          •      . . . . . . C.4.f.2 Miles of stream treated with addition of spawning gravel .07
          •      . . . . . . C.4.f.3 Cubic yards of spawning gravel placed12 (Cubic yards)
        •      . . C.5 Riparian Habitat ProjectY (Y/N)
          •      . . . . C.5.a Riparian Habitat Funding 162,394.00
          •      . . . . C.5.b.1 Total riparian miles streambank treated .96
          •      . . . . C.5.b.2 Total Riparian Acres Treated 2.1
          •      . . . . C.5.c.1 Riparian plantingY (Y/N)
            •      . . . . . . C.5.c.2
              Species of plants planted in riparian
              Acer glabrum, Amelanchier alnifolia, Cornus stolonifera, Crataegus douglassi, Philadelphus lewisii, Prunus virginiana, Ribes aureum, Rosa nutkana, Salix drummondii, Salix exigua, Spirea douglasii, Symphoricarpos albus, Alnus incana, Populus tremuloides, Populus trichocarpa
            •      . . . . . . C.5.c.3 Acres planted in riparian 2.1
            •      . . . . . . C.5.c.4 Miles of streambank treated with riparian planting .96
          •      . . . . C.5.d.1 FencingY (Y/N)
            •      . . . . . . C.5.d.2 Miles of fence along stream .11
            •      . . . . . . C.5.d.3 Acres of riparian area protected by fencing .5
          •      . . . . C.5.h.1 Riparian plant removal/controlY (Y/N)
            •      . . . . . . C.5.h.2
              Species of plants treated/removed in riparian
              Cirsium arvense, Cynoglossum officinale, Pilosella caespitosa, Leucanthemum vulgare, Hypericum perforatum
            •      . . . . . . C.5.h.3 Acres of riparian treated for plant removal/control .5
            •      . . . . . . C.5.h.4 Miles of streambank treated for riparian plant removal/control .02