2016 Project Summaries
This project replaced an old drop structure, which used to contain an active head cut, with an engineered structure. The new structure helps to improve water quality by reducing erosion and sedimentation; stabilize banks and riparian habitats; and serves as a fish barrier to prevent the upstream movement of white suckers and possible hybridization with the native flannelmouth sucker population. In addition to serving as a fish barrier, the diversion structure is also acting as a stream gradient control point to prevent an incised head-cut from moving upstream and destabilizing/degrading the crucial aquatic and riparian habitat above it.
Goose Creek is a tributary to the Snake River that flows through Idaho, Nevada, and Utah and has a diverse native fish assemblage with some of the few remaining populations of northern leatherside chub and bluehead sucker in the Upper Snake River basin. Since the 1980’s, the Goose Creek allotment has been managed for riparian health and it now contains multiple livestock exclosures on the Goose Creek mainstem and key tributaries. However, off-stream watering infrastructure installed over 40 years ago had deteriorated and required more than annual maintenance and repair. Trout Unlimited, BLM, and allotment permittees replaced the livestock water infrastructure to ensure consistent water sources are available to reduce livestock reliance on streams for watering and use of riparian areas. Managing riparian health on Goose Creek and its tributaries helps to maintain the few remaining populations of northern leatherside chub and bluehead sucker in Idaho, as well as other desert fish species, from sedimentation, nutrients, and reduced instream cover from excessive use of Goose Creek tributary streams by livestock.
The project restored riparian and floodplain function as well as improved aquatic habitat conditions for Miller Lake lamprey, Pit-Klamath brook lamprey, and Klamath speckled dace, Redband trout and critical habitat for Bull trout. This project involved large wood additions, stream bank stabilization, creation of floodplain terraces, and riparian restoration including whole willow transplants and sedge/sode mat transplants, and riparian fencing.