The Little Rackheap Creek Fish Passage Designs

Salmonid Restoration Planning and Assessments

Restoration Planning And Coordination
Project IDOWEB 224-1037-23605
Recovery DomainsOregon Coast
Start Date10/23/2024
End Date12/01/2026
Year2024
StatusOngoing
Last Edited05/02/2025
 
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Description    


The Little Rackheap Creek Fish Passage Designs project will produce construction ready final designs for fish passage at a privately owned residential culvert over Little Rackheap Creek. Little Rackheap Creek is a tributary to the North Fork Nehalem River in Tillamook County east of the City of Nehalem. The mouth of Little Rackheap Creek is at river mile 3.2 on the upstream right bank of the North Fork Nehalem.

This project focuses on a double barrel culvert where Little Rackheap Creek crosses under Storm Drive. There are two round culverts, one 6 ft, the other 4 ft, and both partially rusted through. Little Rackheap Creek has a bankfull width at this crossing of 17.7 ft. Theres an additional 1.5 miles of Coho spawning and rearing habitat upstream of the crossing including an Anchor Habitat from river miles 1.10-1.29 of moderate functionality due to low spawning gravel and large wood complexity. The culverts act as a barrier to juvenile salmonids during summer flows and may impede adult salmonids during high flow events.

This project is the first phase in a series of projects that will address fish passage at Storm Drive, treat invasive species (Japanese knotweed and Himalayan blackberry), plant riparian vegetation, and add large wood to anchor habitats in Big and Little Rackheap Creeks.

The Nehalem Bay Watershed Council (NBWC) is managing this project on behalf of the Nehalem Basin Partnership. This project fits the Nehalem Strategic Action Plan for Coho Strategy 6: Replace or remove culverts or other barriers to fish passage. Additionally it will create better passage to the anchor habitat upstream and will facilitate future instream wood enhancements prioritized in Strategy 2: Add large wood to identified anchor habitats.

This project will be led by the NBWC with support from Tillamook Estuary Partnership and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Project Benefit    


According to ODFW Little Rackheap Creek supports Chinook, chum, and coho salmon, coast cutthroat and winter steelhead trout. NOAA lists habitat loss due to artificial barriers to fish passage are a major limiting factor for these salmonid populations. The double barrel culverts at Storm Drive on Little Rackheap Creek are undersized and act as a partial barrier to salmonid passage due to velocity. ODFW models an additional 1.5 miles of habitat for salmonids upstream of the culverts at Storm Drive. The Nehalem Bay Watershed Councils Culvert Assessment records 2.5 miles of salmonid habitat upstream of the culverts at Storm Drive. Both of these estimates include a coho Anchor Habitat identified by Biosurveys in the Nehalem Bay Watershed Councils Rapid Bioassessment and Limiting Factors Analysis (light). The additional spawning and rearing habitat will benefit all salmonid populations that utilize Little Rackheap Creek. Completing this project is also part of a broader effort to improve habitat in Little and Big Rackheap Creeks that will include this fish passage project, invasive species treatments, riparian revegetation, and instream habitat enhancement focused on the Anchor Habitats and in other suitable locations.

Accomplishments

Metric Completed Originally
Proposed

Funding Details

SourceFunds
State$92,883
In-Kind Donated Labor$500
Report Total:$93,383


Project Map



Worksites

60937329    


  • Worksite Identifier: 60937329
  • Start Date:
  • End Date:
Area Description

No Area Description data was found for this worksite.

Location Information

  • Basin: Northern Oregon Coastal (171002)
  • Subbasin:
  • Watershed:
  • Subwatershed:
  • State: Oregon
  • Recovery Domain: Oregon Coast
  • Latitude: 45.76277835
  • Longitude: -123.83146809

ESU

  • Oregon Coast Steelhead DPS
  • Un-Named ESU Cutthroat
  • Oregon Coast Coho Salmon ESU
  • Pacific Coast Chum Salmon ESU
  • Oregon Coast Chinook Salmon ESU

Map

Photos

Metrics

Metrics
  • B.0 Salmonid Restoration Planning and AssessmentsY (Y/N)
    •      . . B.0.a Planning And Assessment Funding
    •      . . B.0.b.1 Area Encompassed
    •      . . B.1 Restoration Planning And CoordinationY (Y/N)
      •      . . . . B.1.a Planning and Coordination funding
      •      . . . . B.1.b.11 Engineering/design work for restoration projectsY (Y/N)
        •      . . . . . . B.1.b.11.a
          Name of plan implemented
        •      . . . . . . B.1.b.11.b
          Description and scope of the plan implemented