Sharrock-Becker Implementation

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) will implement habitat treatments on an 0.84-mile segment of Big Meadow Creek (BMC), which is a tributary of the West Fork Little Bear Creek (WFLBC) in the Potlatch River watershed. This will include in-stream restoration on two landowner’s properties. The proposed project is upstream of a previously funded fish passage project (014 16 CW) located on BMC just upstream from its confluence with WFLBC, and upstream of the currently funded Cooley #1 (010 21 CW) and Cooley #2 (019 22 SC) projects on the WFLBC. Current habitat conditions include a river segment that is moderately incised, contains small substrate sizes, is surrounded primarily with agricultural fields, exhibits elevated summer water temperature, lacks pools and thermal refugia, contains little instream woody material or other lateral habitat, has a disengaged floodplain, and limited overstory shading from riparian vegetation. The project will address limiting factors through re-establishing a functioning floodplain, reducing stream energy, and increasing habitat complexity and capacity for juvenile steelhead. Project actions include: 1) completing design, 2) raising the stream bed and reconnecting old side channels to improve floodplain interaction, 3) adding instream wood structures, 4) increasing streambank stability with vegetation, and 5) improving riparian vegetation and shading through planting and seeding of native plants, and installation of a riparian fence.



A culvert located on the county road in the middle of the restoration area, while not a fish passage barrier, is often completely full at spring flows and will be too small and set too low in the stream once the project is completed. The culvert will be replaced, but no metrics are recorded for this action as it is not a fish passage barrier.

The NOAA recovery plan for Snake River Basin steelhead (NMFS 2017) identified impaired fish passage, reduced stream complexity and channel structure, excess fine sediment, elevated summer water temperatures, diminished streamflow during critical periods, reduced

floodplain connectivity and function, and degraded riparian conditions as the primary steelhead liming factors in this watershed. While previous projects on the West Fork of Little Bear Creek (PCSRF 010 11 CW; PCSRF 006 13 CW) and its main tributary (PCSRF 004 11

CW; 014 13 CW: 014 16 CW) have focused on addressing passage barriers, the Sharrock-Becker project will focus on increasing stream complexity, floodplain connectivity and func-tion, and decreasing summer water temperature. This project will restore 0.84 miles

of stream habitat. Restoring natural river processes and function will directly increase habitat capacity for juvenile steelhead. The impact of this project should be detectable as it is located in a tributary with some of the highest densities of steelhead in the Potlatch River Basin

(Knoth et al. 2021). Further, there is potential for similar treatments in the ~0.5 river miles immediately upstream, and ~3.55 river miles immediately downstream of the project, as this project will demonstrate the efficacy and low risk of this process- based approach to steelhead habitat improvements to interested landowners.