Summary:  Asotin Creek remains an important Snake River tributary for anadromous salmonid production in Washington; it has been designated as a reserve for wild steelhead under current WDFW management policy.  Charley Creek, an upper tributary, historically has some of the highest densities of juvenile steelhead in southeastern Washington according to WDFW fisheries surveys.  

ESA listed stocks of summer steelhead, bull trout and spring Chinook, along with resident rainbow trout, utilize the watershed.  Indigenous anadromous fish species most actively targeted for management are summer steelhead, bull trout, and spring Chinook salmon.  The goals for these species are to restore sustainable, naturally producing populations to support tribal and non-tribal harvest and cultural and economical practices while protecting the biological integrity and genetic diversity of these species in the watershed.  The broad general strategies used to achieve the habitat objectives include protecting and restoring prioritized habitat through the use of in-stream, riparian, and upland best management practices.  Without cooperation and partnerships at the local level, implementing these practices to improve in-stream, riparian and floodplain function and processes, on lands predominantly in private ownership, will not be successful.  __________________________________________________________________

Background:  Asotin Creek, a tributary to the Snake River at Rm 145, drains approximately 325 square miles of Asotin and Garfield Counties.  Headwaters originate in the Blue Mountains (6,200 ft) and flow east into the Snake River (800 ft) at Asotin, WA.  Located in WRIA # 35, the highest priority WRIA in southeastern Washington according to the state's "At-Risk Stock Significance Map (WDFW)," Asotin Creek is part of the Governor's Snake River Salmon Recovery Region.

Anadromous salmonid production in Asotin Creek is affected by high summer stream temperatures, sediment deposition, turbidity, loss of riparian vegetation, and lack of suitable resting and rearing pool habitat (Asotin Creek Model Watershed Plan).  Completed in 1995, the Asotin Creek Model Watershed Plan was the first BPA-funded plan produced in Washington addressed specifically to watershed restoration and protection, and on the limiting-factors affecting fish habitat conditions and function.   Decreasing stream water temperatures, and increasing complex resting and rearing pools, are among the goals identified in the Watershed Plan.  Contract actions to-date to implement project objectives have been derived from the goals of the Plan; additional and/or complementary goals and recommended actions can also be found in the "Asotin Creek Subbasin Plan" and the "Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan."
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Purpose:  The objectives within the overall SOW are to continue to identify priority areas and actions for ESA listed streams and fish species within the Asotin Watershed, to continue habitat restoration actions, and to further address limiting factors by protecting and improving overall water quality, riparian area conditions, and stream-channel habitat function.  Additional objectives are to continue to reduce soil erosion and instream sedimentation by stabilizing soils and streambanks through agricultural BMPs, and with improved livestock management practices that include exclusion from adjacent streambanks and beds.

Emphases:  This FY13 SOW reflects a continuation of some prior contract actions.   Work elements, such as tree plantings, fencing, alternative water sources, and no-till direct seeding, meet these objectives by further reducing upland erosion and soil loss, decreasing sediment loading, and increasing riparian buffer establishment.  Riparian buffers also serve to reduce instream temperatures, provide direct soil stabilization and provide needed stream shading and habitat for fish redds and fry in the stream.  Fencing keeps livestock out of the streams, further protecting the streambanks, reducing in-stream sedimentation, and reducing fecal coliform levels.  Sediment basins serve to collect runoff and soil loss before leaving the site and before entering stream systems.  Basins hold the water and soil on-site, allowing the water to percolate back into the soil and overall water table where it is needed.

Additional Actions:  Project management activities in 2013 will also encompass the following major tasks:
- Continue the repair and rehabilitation of the prior constructed meander on George Creek, to restore habitat function and channel conditions (Phase II): to include planting of terrace "catch lines" and improvement to breached areas as spillway overflow sites (Phase III); but especially to promote the floodplain development process through extensive revegetation throughout the project area; and
- Implement the Hardened Feeding Station (Manure Management) demonstration project: deferred from prior-year contract (see 51042 at WE: AW); intended as a pilot to implement a constructed, hardened feeding area, in an area outside of the riparian zone, in which the normally concentrated amounts of animal waste generated during seasonally required feeding can be managed, collected, processed and disposed.  
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Management Considerations:  All project elements have to be inspected, and approved, by District staff before a landowner receives cost-share reimbursement for the project.  If project actions do not meet the required specification, the District doesn't pay for implementation costs until deficiencies are remedied and results meet our standards.  The ACCD board sets a maximum hourly-rate a landowner may charge for their time (an amount less than what a contractor would charge but still showing their time has a value).  The USDA Farm Service Agency in Asotin County has set the same rate for landowner labor (currently $20/hour), and other agencies with whom we work accept this rate.  The District board also establishes hold-downs or caps for every practice we employ, and these constraints ensure that landowners and contractors are not able to overcharge or abuse the cost-share program through excessive hourly-rate billing.  The costs of BPA-supported actions and practices are based on documented expenses that cannot exceed the caps set by the board (expenses actually incurred can be less than the cost-caps established by the board, at less cost to BPA).  Even if a landowner spends an inordinate amount of time employed on project implementation, total reimbursement is limited by the maximum cost-share limits established by the Board.