Little Canyon Creek Subwatershed Steelhead Trout Habitat Improvement Project

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Little Canyon Creek Subwatershed Steelhead Trout
Habitat Improvement Project
Sponsored by Lewis Soil Conservation District
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Columbia Country Safe Keeping Segment November
2003
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Project Goal
Improve steelhead trout habitat in Little Canyon
Creek by implementing best management practices
to upland agricultural lands.
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Little Canyon Creek Watershed
Clearwater Subbasin
Big Canyon Creek Watershed
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Little Canyon Creek

• 100 within Nez Perce Reservation
• 93 privately owned
• 60,200 acres
• 68 agricultural land use

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Problems
The only remaining steelhead trout runs in the
Clearwater River subbasin, with limited or no
hatchery influence, occur in the lower Clearwater
River tributaries
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Problems

• Limiting factors to steelhead habitat within
  Little Canyon Creek are associated with climate
  and land use patterns, including
• excess sediment delivery
• flashy storm events
• low sustained summer base flows

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Problems

• Surface soil erosion is the dominant type of
  erosion from most cultivated lands in the
  watershed
• Source of sediment and water quality problems
• Sediment contributes to increased stream
  temperature and reduced stream productivity

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Solutions
To protect, enhance and/or restore fish habitat,
best management practices should be developed
and implemented on agricultural lands.
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Solutions

• Best Management Practices
• Combination of practices that effectively and
  practicably prevent or reduce the amount of
  sediment delivery to receiving streams
• Techniques that will begin restoration and
  protection of aquatic habitat impacted by land
  management

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Solutions

• Best Management Practices
• Control and reduce erosion and subsequent
  sedimentation
• Conservation tillage and no-till
• Grade stabilization structures

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Solutions

• Best Management Practices
• Promote upland water storage
• Conservation tillage
• No-till

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No-Till Conservation Tillage
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Grade Stabilization Structures
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Project Goal
Improve steelhead trout habitat in Little Canyon
Creek
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Project Goal
Improve steelhead trout habitat in Little Canyon
Creek by implementing best management practices
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Project Goal
Improve steelhead trout habitat in Little Canyon
Creek by implementing best management practices
to upland agricultural lands.
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• Since 1999
• BMPs implemented to date
• 54,921 acres of no-till and conservation
  tillage
• 68 grade stabilization structures

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• Since 1999
• BMPs implemented to date
• 54,921 acres of no-till and conservation
  tillage
• 321,769
• 68 grade stabilization structures
• 208,674

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• Since 1999
• BMPs implemented to date
• 54,921 acres of no-till and conservation
  tillage
• 321,769 54,921 tons
• 68 grade stabilization structures
• 208,674 56,745 tons

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Soil savings over the practices life expectancy
totals over 111,000 Tons
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111,000 Tons 530,443 4.75 per Ton
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Hypothesis

• Erosion and sedimentation is reduced
• from implementation of agricultural
• BMPs

• Reduced sedimentation improves fish
• habitat

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111,000 tons

• Nez Perce Tribe 2003 and 2004
• Fish abundance and presence
• Habitat
• Water quality
• Migration studies

• BLM, NPT, DEQ 1994 through 2004
• Fish abundance and presence
• Habitat
• Water quality

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International IECA Conference Innovative
Technology Award February 2002
Culvert Outlets
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Columbia Country Safe Keeping Segment November
2003
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• Sediment delivery?
• Habitat improvements as a
• result of sediment reduction?
• Increase in fish productivity?

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Little Canyon Creek Subwatershed Steelhead Trout
Habitat Improvement Project
Sponsored by Lewis Soil Conservation District