SRFB Field TourTucannon River Dayton, WA

October 17, 2013

Tour Itinerary• 8:30 Leave Dayton• 9:00 SR 124 Barrier Removal• 10:00 PA-26 Marengo Levee Set Back• 11:00 Monitoring Discussion Marengo• 11:30 Agricultural BMPs • 11:30 Lunch Last Resort• 12:30 pm PA-10• 1:30 pm Post Card

Little Tucannon barrier culvert (left) replaced with a bridge in 2010 by a SRFB grant through the Tri-State Steelheaders in cooperation with Pomeroy Ranger District USNF.

Tuca

nnon

Riv

er P

roje

cts T

our M

ap

Pataha Fish Passage

Post ProjectPre-Project

Pre-Project

Sponsor: Eric Hoverson – Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ReservationPrimary Species: Summer SteelheadObjective: Provide fish passage to > 10 miles of habitat & > 25 miles paired with up stream companion projectApproach: Back water culvert through increased elevation steps and roughnessFunding: 75% SRFB and 25% Umatilla Tribal AccordsNote: Pataha has high potential for increased steelhead numbers

(SR 124 Barrier Removal)

Pata

ha C

reek

Fish

Pas

sage

Effo

rts

Tucannon River Levee Set Back & Complexity

Sponsor: Terry Bruegman – Columbia Conservation DistrictPrimary Species: Spring Chinook, Steelhead & Bull TroutObjective: Reduce river and floodplain confinement & > channel complexityFunding: 60% SRFB and 40% BPANote: >3 miles of confinement removed & 130 acres of floodplain connected

Pre-project Levee

Post-project Levee

Post-project Floodplain

Post-project Levee

(PA-26)

Tucannon R. Levee Set BackPassive and Active Complexity Approach

Above: Natural development of off channel and side channel habitat complexity within the levee set back. Left: Natural LWD recruitment within set back reach.

Right: Constructed log jams were added in 2013 to boost complexity within the reach where positive changes have been slow to develop.

Habitat Monitoring

Long Duration Data Sets– Marengo Flow and Temperature

WDOE– Starbuck Flow USGS

Effectiveness Monitoring– CHaMP Habitat – Fish in Fish out

CHaM

P =

Stat

us/T

rend

s PLU

S Ha

bita

t Eff

ectiv

enes

s Mon

itorin

g

Riparian Habitat Restoration

September 2013

• Riparian habitat recovery as a result of restoration and protection

• The CCD, CTUIR, USNF and WDFW have planted and protected over 1013 acres of riparian habitat in the Tucannon watershed > 52 RM.

Tucannon LWD ReplenishmentSponsor: Dave Karl Washington Department of Fish & WildlifePrimary Species: Spring Chinook, Steelhead & Bull Trout

Objective: Remove floodplain and channel confining factors for 1.8 mile project reach through wood replenishmentApproach: Place 291 key trees and 500 racking trees in 65 structuresFunding: 50% SRFB 50% BPANote: Development of > 0.5 mile additional side channel during Fall/Winter Freshet 2012/2013

(PA-10)

Tucannon LWD Replenishment(PA-10)

Above and left: A Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane was used to transport large whole trees from the USNF to the project Area where they were placed in designed configurations.

Below: Trees placed in designed configurations. A multitude of configurations were utilized to increase complexity, redirect flow, encourage side channel development and engage floodplain connectivity. 300 large trees and 500 smaller trees were placed in the 1.8 mile reach.

Hazard Tree Management “Post Card”

Above & Right: WDFW worked with USFS to identify and fell trees killed by forest fire into the river for the purpose of increasing LWD recruitment. Approximately 100 trees were dropped into the Tucannon in this project.

Above: Trees were un anchored and added with the understanding they would be mobile during high flows. Below Left: Following the project 2 yrs of higher than average flow created some sizable debris jam. Note the single key log (red arrow) in lower left image. This jam instigated the development of a new mile long side channel.

The

illus

trati

on sh

ows p

hoto

s and

are

al im

ages

show

the

“Po

st C

ard”

site

s whe

re tr

ees w

ere

fell

for t

he p

urpo

se o

f in

crea

sing

LWD

com

plex

ity fo

llow

ing

the

2005

fire

s. T

he re

d ar

row

is in

dica

ting

the

sam

e lo

catio

n th

roug

h tim

e in

th

e ph

otos

. Th

e sit

e ha

s bee

n ve

ry d

ynam

ic o

ver t

he p

ast 5

yea

rs a

t tim

es p

rovi

ding

exc

elle

nt o

ff ch

anne

l spa

wni

ng

and

rear

ing

habi

tat f

or C

hino

ok a

nd st

eelh

ead.