Upper John Day Flow Enhancement

This project is located on Belshaw Creek, which is a tributary to the upper mainstem John Day River and is home to ESA-listed adult and juvenile Mid-Columbia River summer steelhead and provides year-round habitat for all life stages of resident redband trout and west-slope cutthroat trout. Limited data is available to quantify current or historic steelhead use in Belshaw Creek; however, adult and juvenile steelhead have been observed in the system by CTWS fisheries biologists and it is expected that the system is used for both spawning and over-summer rearing. The confluence of Belshaw Creek and the Main Stem John Day is below the defined extent of spring chinook spawning and rearing habitat, and benefits conferred through this project are expected to be contained within Belshaw Creek.



Limiting factors for salmonids in the Belshaw Creek system include insufficient water/drought and water quality degradation. The CTWS Tribal Strategy lists four target restoration actions for the Upper John Day subbasin: water quantity/irrigation efficiency enhancement, fencing/plantings, improvements to instream habitat complexity, and fish passage. The John Day Basin Partnership Strategic Action Plan identifies increased flows during critical times as a top-ranked objective for the Upper John Day River, with improved irrigation efficiency being a priority action to meet this goal.



Phase I of this project is located on private land and is a collaborative effort between CTWS, the Grant County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the private landowner. It will specifically address water quantity/quality by replacing the current open-ditch irrigation system – which is estimated to be functioning at a 30-60% conveyance efficiency rate - with a buried pipeline conveyance system, estimated to save 1.5 cfs of in-stream flow and retain these savings within Belshaw Creek. This tributary is estimated to contribute < 1 CFS to the Main Stem John Day during the low flow irrigation season; thus, 1.5 cfs of water savings constitutes a significant increase in base flow conditions. Instream water savings resulting from this project will increase the quantity/quality of rearing habitat downstream of the irrigation diversion, and will improve passage conditions for access to upstream thermal refugia. These benefits will be realized throughout the ~0.6 miles between Belshaw Creek’s confluence with the Main Stem John Day and the diversion. This 0.6 mile reach spans two private properties; while the downstream property is also irrigated from Belshaw Creek, CTWS is working with this landowner to implement similar water-savings efforts through Phase II of this project.



The piped irrigation structure will be installed with a flow meter to measure irrigation withdrawals and ensure water savings. Project objectives and operational expectations of the irrigator/landowner will be detailed and agreed upon via a Memorandum of Understanding between CTWS and the landowner. CTWS works with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program to formally secure in-stream water savings via landowner incentive programs. While no arrangement has been made to date for this project, negotiations are ongoing and will be considered as part of the ongoing strategy development for this site and system. This project will be implemented concurrently with a fish-passage improvement project, the combination of which intending to improve both quality of, and access to, critical spawning and rearing habitat.



Worksite #1: Belshaw Creek

PCSRF funding will be used for irrigation efficiency. This will include the installation of 10,185 feet of buried pipeline to replace existing open-ditch conveyance system to retain water in-stream and bolster in-stream water quantity and quality. This will improve ditch conveyance efficiency from an estimated 30-60% to near 100%, allowing water savings t

This project will enhance ecological resilience by increasing irrigation efficiency and providing additional cold-water inputs to the Upper John Day River in the hot summer months when drought is more prominent.