Recovering System Process in Shotpouch Creek, Phase III

Shotpouch Creek, located in Lincoln County and draining from the west slope of Marys Peak, provides some of the highest quality cutthroat trout habitat in the Marys River basin; steelhead were also observed in Shotpouch Cr in both the 2009 and 2011 Rapid Bio-Assesment surveys. Because of the potential for Marys Peak snowpack to contribute cold water to the system, Shotpouch Cr is one of the key tributaries for addressing the limiting factor of elevated summer stream temperatures.

Extensive restoration actions supporting cutthroat trout, steelhead and Pacific lamprey populations have already been undertaken in Shotpouch Cr to address the limiting factors of channel simplification, floodplain disconnection and elevated stream temperatures. In the previous two phases to restore system processes in Shotpouch Cr, MRWC has built a strong partnership working with numerous agency and funding partners including MMT, OWEB, USFWS, NFWF, NRCS, Lincoln SWCD, ODF, and 15 voluntarily participating private landowners. This strong collaboration will further engage sub-basin landowners as we conduct augmented and new restoration actions on their land in this proposed third phase of restoration.

This third phase of restoration spans multiple properties owned by private landowners, including a Van Eck Forest Foundation site and two newly acquired Shotpouch Foundation parcels. Work includes instream structure placement, re-infusing new wood into existing structures, bank stabilization, floodplain engagement, invasive species removal and riparian planting. This project will also support the active beaver population with large woody debris and low-tech process-based restoration in a perennial tributary to Shotpouch Cr to provide beneficial hydrological conditions, and planted forage and dam construction vegetation.

Project partners include BLM, USFS, Shotpouch Foundation, Van Eck Forest Fnd, & NOAA scientist Chris Jordan who will be assisting with the BDA/PALS install.

Shotpouch Cr has been prioritized as an opportunity area for significant ecological uplift targeting salmonid-based recovery efforts and temperature reduction in the Marys River watershed. This prioritization occurred over the course of the Meyer Memorial Trust (MMT) Model Watershed Program, a 2009 Rapid Bio-Assessment (RBA) conducted in Shotpouch Creek, and a 2010 RBA in the Tum Tum River. These prioritization efforts were conducted with participating landowners and land managers and identified areas of opportunity for ecological uplift specifically adapted to the project locations.

In Phase I and Phase II of restoration, MRWC worked with 15 landowners over a 5 mile reach of Shotpouch Cr to address the limiting factors within anchor habitats identified over the course of the earlier RBAs: elevated summer stream temperatures, limited riparian vegetation with a denuded streambank showing signs of overgrazing, channel incision, channel simplification, and fish passage barriers.

In this Phase III restoration, MRWC will work with 7 landowners over a total of 2 miles of stream. MRWC will work on 2 properties on which we previously could not carry out prioritized restoration, but now can after a shift in ownership. We will also be working to enhance restoration activities that occurred on parcels in earlier stages of restoration to further increase vegetation biodiversity, particularly with the threat of the emerald ash borer, provide a new infusion of large wood to retain and build upon existing gains, and continue stream enhancement efforts with robust floodplain development. This project will benefit both private and public lands by enhancing summer rearing habitat, including cool water refugia access and capacity for cutthroat trout which spawn on the O&C and USFS lands in the headwaters of Shotpouch Cr. It will also benefit juvenile cutthroat emerging from these spawning sites, by increasing off-channel winter refugia in slack water habitats as the channel becomes reconnected with its floodplain through beaver activity and channel aggradation at log structure sites, as well as in the developed off-channel alcoves. Channel aggradation, floodplain connection and stream shading will likewise be beneficial to steelhead and Pacific lamprey by retaining gravels needed for spawning as well as by improving water quality through lowered temperatures. This project supports an important “source” habitat for salmonids and Pacific lamprey, as well as steelhead which were documented in the creek by snorkel surveys in 2009 and 2011. Pacific lamprey presence was confirmed by eDNA sampling conducted in partnership with BLM, and identified spawning redd location in 2020. This project will also support the active beaver population with large woody debris to provide beneficial hydrological conditions and planted forage and dam construction vegetation. Beyond Shotpouch Cr itself, lower water temperatures will improve conditions downstream where other salmonids find their way out of the Willamette into the Marys River watershed.

This work will continue to build a landscape more resilient to climate change. Summer salmonid populations in the Marys River are projected to experience warmer temperatures and lower flows while in freshwater, and consequently, find fewer cold-water refugia. This project works to build climate resiliency by providing cold water refugia, increasing channel aggradation and floodplain connection to impound water, recharging groundwater storage for slow release during summer low flows, decreasing stream temperatures, providing carbon capture through riparian planting. Climate change and diminishing numbers of returning salmonids make access to spawning habitat, winter off-channel and summer cold water refuge crucial in the recovery of these species.