Oxbow Conservation Area Restoration Phase 6

The Oxbow Conservation Area Phase 6 Restoration project is located on Middle Fork John Day River within the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon’s Oxbow Conservation area, approximately 11 miles upstream from the town of Galena in Grant County, OR. This reach was dredge mined in the early 1940s, resulting in a heavily altered channel form which was restored to a natural channel form during Oxbow Phases 3, 4, and 5 between 2014-2016. This project, Phase 6, is an enhancement effort aimed at improving planform complexity, floodplain connectivity, and water table elevation at lower flows by leveraging existing channel features and performing targeted grading efforts in prioritized locations. Proposed efforts will decrease the depth between surface elevation and water table, will increase sediment retention, and increase the survival and propagation of riparian vegetation through instream channel reconfiguration and log and spawning gravel placement. This project is being implemented by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in collaboration with the US Bureau of Reclamation. This OWEB-funded project is paired with the CRITFC-funded project being reported to the PCSRF database under 24-WARM-01.

With the current state of salmon and steelhead in the John Day River and the broader mid-Columbia River basin, restoration projects of this scale are increasingly necessary to preserve these populations of fish. Federal, non-profit, and state agencies across the basin have and continue to allocate time and resources to restoring the Middle Fork John Day. Much of this work has focused on the tributaries, which are highly important, especially for adult steelhead and rearing of all salmonid species. Yet, our data show that juveniles also spend much of their time in the main stem of the Middle Fork, highlighting the importance of its restoration. This work is vital in order to improve fish habitat and water quality within the watershed. This project aims to improve rearing habitat conditions, habitat complexity, spawning conditions, and water quality. These would all directly improve the conditions necessary to sustain healthy salmonid populations within the Middle Fork John Day River.