Sandy Creek Whole Watershed Restoration Project - Phase 1

This project will restore channel complexity and floodplain connection in Sandy Creek, a 12,000-acre drainage to the Middle Fork Coquille River (MFCR) near Remote, OR in Coos County. The MFCR has the potential to provide year-round rearing habitat for coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout, and Pacific lamprey but lack of spawning and rearing habitat in tributaries continues to be a critical watershed issue. Historically, Sandy Creek was clear-cut and subjected to stream cleaning. As a result, most of Sandy Creek and its major fish bearing tributaries have large sections of bedrock substrate, disconnected floodplains, lack sufficient large wood structures (LWD), and spawning gravel. To address these limiting factors, CoqWA, Coos Bay BLM, ODFW, Weyerhaeuser, Coos County Roads Dept., and a private landowner are working towards a shared goal of improving spawning and rearing habitat for native fish in the Sandy Creek Basin. Project components include placing large wood (LWD) and boulders in constructed formations into Sandy Creek in high priority reaches as determined from stream surveys that were funded from an OWEB TA grant. Additionally, fish passage improvements in the basin will be made by replacing culverts that are barriers on BLM road 29-10-14.2.

According to the Oregon Coast Coho Recovery Plan (NMFS 2016), the primary strategy to recover Oregon Coast coho is to restore watershed processes to increase rearing habitat quality and quantity. Key components of quality rearing habitat include cool summer water temperatures and low amounts of fine sediment and nutrient loading. Maintaining and restoring healthy watersheds will improve water quality and habitat for native fish. The restoration actions funded by this grant are part of a suite of holistic restoration efforts, which are focused on facilitating these outcomes. This project will help to develop floodplain connection, provide important habitat for native fish, and remove barriers. The structures placed will work interactively and provide benefits along an entire stream corridor, aligning with a priority action outlined in the Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan (ODFW 2007). Habitat improvements alone will not address all of the limiting factors facing anadromous fish in the Sandy Creek Basin. Road improvements for sediment abatement will improve water quality and increase the productive capacity of Sandy Creek. Restoration actions that decrease the amount of sediment delivered from roads to Sandy Creek will decrease turbidity and improve water quality.