Lower Green Valley Creek Off-Channel Habitat Enhancement Project at Iron Horse Vineyards, Phase I

This project consists of 2 phases that will entail the construction of an integrated suite of habitat enhancement elements that will significantly increase off-channel rearing and high-flow refugia habitat for salmonids in lower Green Valley Creek. This 1st phase will create 1.6 acres of low velocity and depth rearing habitat during frequent winter storm inundation periods. The seasonally flooded wetlands will be vegetated with water tolerant native species to provide cover during periods of inundation, and terrestrial insects that colonize the meadows during the dry season will be food for fish and other aquatic species once the features flood. Inundation durations of the lowered flooded wetlands features will be increased to 1 to 4 weeks with each storm event.

This project is expected to create 1.6 acres (69,112 ft2) of complex high-flow refugia and winter foraging habitat for winter-rearing and out-migrating juvenile coho salmon and steelhead trout, providing accessible off-channel habitat under frequent storm inundation conditions in a reach that is considered critical for rearing fish, thereby contributing to the recovery of salmonid populations in Green Valley Creek and the Russian River.