Upper Ritner Creek Splash Dam Recovery Project

The legacy effects of historical logging practices in the Ritner Creek basin have impacted salmonid habitat as well as ecosystem and geomorphic processes. The streambed was scoured to bedrock, the channel was devoid of instream large wood, riparian conifers are mostly non-existent in certain sections of the reach, there were very few gravel deposits, and there was little channel-floodplain interaction. Each of these issues have improved to make the system more functional. The large wood structures have been effective in slackening the stream and encouraging the water into more interaction with the floodplain and has recruited gravel in many places. Additionally, locally sourced willows and other native species have been planted to replace the invasive species that have been controlled to the extent possible. These plants will reduce further invasion of non-natives and allow time for the conifer enrichment efforts to establish. These actions will eventually promote the collection of enough sediment to fill incised channels and for the conifers to grow to a size where they can shade the stream and be a source of large wood.
Because the projects scheduled end date is after the PCSRF FFY 2017 award closes, no funds allocated for this project are reported as match to PCSRF funds.

The LWC identified those reaches in the Luckiamute basin which have the highest potential for recovery with a primary focus on steelhead production and secondary focus on coho and cutthroat production. Upper Ritner Creek exhibits the key geomorphological features and water quality conditions that make it ideal for steelhead. With large wood placement and riparian conifer enrichment, the proposed intervention can catalyze recovery of upper Ritner Creek to provide high quality salmonid habitat in the Luckiamute watershed. Steelhead were observed in Ritner Creek in rapid bio-assessment surveys in 2002 and 2003, but were absent in 2008-2011 surveys. However, steelhead were observed during field verification surveys during summer 2017, albeit in low numbers. During the 2010 surveys, upper Ritner had some of the highest numbers of coho reported in the basin. By restoring instream complexity, Ritner Creek can provide the high quality substrate needed for salmonid spawning and off-channel rearing. Once these objectives are achieved, upper Ritner Creek will be better suited to retain and support steelhead, coho and cutthroat.