White Road Barrier Phase 2

The Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District will repair approximately 100 feet of Tom Beall Creek with a combination of stream channel improvements and removal of a fish passage barrier. The purpose of this project is to repair the channel function and to provide steelhead migration during all life stages by eliminating the current passage barrier. This project is needed in order to provide passage connectivity for steelhead adults spawning and juveniles. The project is located in a known spawning area, has perennial flow, and good habitat conditions upstream and downstream of the site. This site is a full barrier blocking 4.0 miles of habitat. Phase 1 of this project was a design phase funded by the Idaho Office of Species Conservation through the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund.

The steelhead migration barrier once removed will open fish passage for all life stages and at all flow levels. Benefits to salmonids include access to upstream and downstream refugia and habitat during summer months. Passage barriers are one of the limiting factors identified in the NOAA Steelhead Recovery Plan for Idaho and the Lapwai Creek Watershed Ecological Restoration Strategy. Passage barriers within the Lapwai Creek watershed were identified and assessed through an inventory effort that was most recently updated in April 2021. The passage barrier is a full barrier to all life stages of steelhead trout.