1999-016-00

Protect and Restore the Big Canyon Creek Watershed

Big Canyon Creek is a major tributary to the Clearwater River. The watershed drains approximately 227 square miles and ranges in elevation between 994 ft at the mouth and over 4,200 ft. near the origin. Precipitation ranges from an annual average of approximately 21 inches in the lower and central portions of the watershed to about 27 inches in the higher elevation areas. The watershed geology is comprised primarily of Columbia River basalt with dispersed outcrops of Idaho Batholith Granites. Most of the land within the watershed is used for agriculture with dry land grains and cattle among the most important products. The landownership is mixed with private, state, federal, and tribal entities as significant owners.

Big Canyon Creek Watershed provides habitat for a variety of anadromous and resident fish. The anadromous stocks include wild A-run Snake River Steelhead (listed as Threatened under the ESA - February 5, 1999, 56 FR 5740), Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon (listed as Threatened under the ESA - December 28, 1993, 58 FR 68543), and recently reintroduced Coho salmon. Resident fish include rainbow trout (Oncorhychus mykiss), suckers (Catostomus spp.), northern pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis), chiselmouth (Acrocheilus alutaceus), as well as dace (Rhinichtys spp.) and sculpin (Cottus spp.) species. Local oral histories of the Nez Perce Tribe refer to the region’s once significant salmon runs. Similar to many anadromous streams in the Columbia River Basin, Big Canyon Creek has seen a significant decline in salmon and steelhead populations from historic levels. Despite current habitat conditions, rainbow-steelhead production continues to persist in the Big Canyon Creek Watershed, and considerable potential exists for improving anadromous fish populations in this watershed.

The Big Canyon Creek Watershed Rehabilitation Project was originally funded by BPA in 1999 to complete a watershed analysis. Since that time, the NPT Watershed Division has been working on resource assessments and project implementation throughout the watershed. Prior to the initiation of this project, a massive data gap existed on fish, the condition of fish habitat, and limiting factors within the watershed. Only a minimal amount of baseline data collection had occurred. We felt it was of utmost importance to address this issue prior to any large-scale implementation of restoration efforts. Thus, the early years of the project (1999-2001) were focused on watershed assessment and subbasin planning. Unfortunately, these efforts were very broad in scope, and the watershed assessment was based on what minimal data existed on the watershed at that time. This proved to be much too coarse to provide any substantial direction or to guide our restoration activities.

To fill this data gap, beginning in 2002 the NPT Watershed Division developed and/or modified existing protocols to facilitate the collection of relevant baseline data within the watershed. In realizing that this data collection phase would involve a substantial amount of personnel and take several years to complete, NPT Watershed in collaboration with the Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District (NPSWCD), began implementing watershed rehabilitation activities concurrently with data gathering activities. Due to the lack of a comprehensive, detailed watershed assessment to help prioritize restoration activities, implementation activities since 2002 have been concentrated on the “hot spots” or obvious areas in need of rehabilitation (e.g., livestock feeding operations, un-vegetated riparian areas, passage barriers, and areas with direct livestock access to the stream). As mentioned previously, these projects have been implemented in the interim while the detailed baseline data collection phase is completed. The NPT Water Resources Division, Watershed Division, and NPSWCD are all involved in the data collection/analysis process. By fall 2007, a very comprehensive baseline data set for the Big Canyon Creek Watershed should be assembled. These data sets will include some or all of the following as available: 1.) fish distribution and abundance data, 2.) fish habitat data, 3.) riparian canopy data, 4.) thermal imagery, 5.) LiDar imagery, 6.) water quality data, and 7.) aquatic/riparian assessments. These data will be compiled and analyzed together in 2007 to create a 10-year restoration plan for the Big Canyon Creek Watershed. This important plan will be used to prioritize, select, and justify future watershed restoration and protection activities in the Big Canyon Creek Watershed.

None

1999

2011

David Byrnes (Inactive)

Closed - Project Status Report

Province	Subbasin	%
Mountain Snake	Clearwater	100.00%

Habitat

Restoration/Protection

Bass, Largemouth
Bass, Smallmouth
Carp, Common
Catfish
Chinook - Snake River Fall ESU
Coho - Unspecified Population
Crappie, Black
Cutthroat Trout, Westslope
Freshwater Mussels
Kokanee
Lamprey, Pacific
Perch, Yellow
Pikeminnow, Northern
Steelhead - Snake River DPS
Trout, Brook
Trout, Brown
Trout, Bull
Trout, Interior Redband
Trout, Rainbow
Whitefish, Mountain

Anadromous: 100.0%   Resident: 0.0%   Wildlife: 0.0%

None

None

Tributary Habitat Implementation 2007 to 2009,
Tributary Habitat Implementation 2007 to 2009,
Tributary Habitat Implementation 2007 to 2009