gee creek watershed restoration - WSU Clark County Extension ...

• Degradation not limited to developing areas – impacts are clearly present in ruralareas due to historical clearing of forest for agriculture, roads, and timber harvest• Stormwater outfalls and stream crossings• Erosional features- stream scour and incision common, floodplain disconnection• Fine sediment accumulation common• Riparian conditions mixed – some ample widths but much invasive plant speciespresence (particularly blackberries) in the corridor and forest buffer areas.• Impacted stream buffers – invasive plant removal and bank revegetation needed• Channel modifications• Trash and debris sites• Altered hydrology has caused channel impacts• Beaver dams important for storing sediment load2006 - USFWS Cutthroat Study summary 2002-2005 sampled fish from reaches aboveRefuge: 28,56• Cutthroat numbers low - no tagged fish found above refuge• Lots of warmwater fish as predators – unusual situation compared to otherstreams studied.Past Restoration RecommendationsPast restoration recommendations from agency and private technical experts for the GeeCreek watershed are listed below. Although much restoration work has beenaccomplished, particularly by the Gee Creek Enhancement Committee and partneragencies from 1994-2000 and surveys by the USFWS since 2000, little specificinformation was found in the records which documented or mapped details of thelocation or current status of most past activities.1985 – USFWS Fisheries Assistance Office Literature Review: 7• No temperature or water quality data found for Gee Creek within the Refuge• “Lower Gee Creek should be thoroughly surveyed to ascertain its potentialimportance to cutthroat trout and salmon."1994 - Gee Creek Watershed Enhancement Committee priorities: 26• Streamside planting of trees and shrubs• Exclude livestock from creek• Monitor water quality• Outreach and education for best management practices1996 – WDFW Damage Survey Report re Abrams Park landslide: 61a• Slide should be left as-is. Plant toe of slide with willow shrubs.1996 – Inter-Fluve Report: 30• Stream grade control and bank stabilization (erosion)35