Albion River Instream Coho Habitat Enhancement Project

The project goal is to restore bedrock reaches of the Albion River to alluvial bed reaches that will provide salmonid spawning habitat and velocity refugia, restore hyporheic flows, and slow the recession of base-flows. The project will increase the density of large woody debris (LWD) throughout the contiguous mainstem and NF Albion River project reaches (~1.7mi) by installing 227 pieces of large wood (207 key pieces) distributed through 53 engineered structures to promote deposition of coarse sediment to create an alluvial channel bed. The project aims to meet the ?good? wood loading densities identified in the NMFS CCC Coho recovery plan for treated river segments. In addition, two undersized and failing drainage culverts along Docker Hill Rd will be replaced to allow coarse sediments to be delivered to the NF Albion River.

Implementation of this project will directly benefit Coho Salmon by enhancing the quality of instream habitats for all life stages in the Albion River. Instream large wood is known to assist with sorting and storage of stream gravels, as well as pool formation associated with bed scour. Studies have shown that pool formation associated with large wood can increase the quality and quantity of instream habitats for salmonids, which has been positively linked to survival rates.