Upper Red Cap Creek Floodplain Restoration Project - Karuk

Objective: The project objective is to improve salmon habitat quality in upper Red Cap Creek by restoring 1.5 miles of floodplain historically degraded by gold mining. Funding will support final design and construction costs during the first phase of project construction to begin in fall of 2022.


Project Description

The Karuk Tribal Fisheries Program (KTFP) in partnership with the Six Rivers Nation Forest (SRNF) and the Middle Klamath Watershed Council (MKWC) are working together on planning habitat restoration projects in the Middle Klamath River including Upper Red Cap Creek. Red Cap Creek is a large tributary to the Middle Klamath River important spawning habitat for threatened Coho Salmon and cold water refuge for juvenile salmon. The project reach is located in upper Red Cap creek where historic mining caused channel incision and loss of riparian along 1.5 miles of Red Cap Creek. The SRNF recently completed a forest wide programmatic Ecosystem Analysis (EA) for fisheries restoration project that streamlines project permitting on the national forest.

The Karuk Tribe recently published a climate change adaption plan titled Karuk Climate Adaptation Plan. The plan listed climate adaptation actions in Table 3.6 titled Riverine Climate Impacts and Adaptations Overview that address our vulnerable local salmon populations. . The Middle Klamath River is vulnerable to climate change because air temperatures routinely exceed 100 degrees F during the dry season when Klamath River juvenile salmon seek out cold water tributaries. Red Cap Creek provides cold water refuge from lethal water temperatures and will become increasingly more valuable habitat as climate changes.

The project area channel is incised and lacks habitat complexity due to a long history of human impacts including gold mining and large wood removal following the 1964 flood. We propose the placement of wood structures to stop channel incision and add habitat complexity. Wood structures will store spawning gravels, create hard that form complex pools and side channels. Two large off channel ponds are proposed that will connect to active groundwater sources that will remain cold even during hot summers.

A final design has been completed and currently being used to complete project permitting with project implementation planned for fall 2023. The project proposes to add up to 30 large wood structures including whole anchored trees designed to trap gravels and connect floodplain habitats. The project will utilize groundwater monitoring wells to guide construction of two off channel ponds.

The project benefits include; the increase of cold water pool volumes, increased spawning gravel stability, promote side channel formation, floodplain connectivity and off set climate change impacts. Furthermore impacts from climate change are increasing flood intensity with warm rain on snow events becoming more frequent. This is causing increased instability in spawning gravels with threatened Coho salmon most susceptible because they spawn during the winter months in the Middle Klamath.