Wildcat/Wallupa Creek Culvert Replacement

The project proposes to replace two undersized, failure-prone culverts on Wildcat Creek and Wallupa Creek with channel-spanning bridges. Both structures have failed multiple times, each time introducing large quantities of road fill, surface gravel and soil into the Wallupa Creek, Wildcat Creek and the Grande Ronde River. The existing structure on Wildcat Creek is a partially crushed, undersized bottomless arch that at times presents a velocity barrier to adult steelhead.  The structure on Wallupa Creek is an 8-foot round culvert that blocks all upstream passage of adult and juvenile steelhead and resident fish.  The replacement bridges meet all fish passage criteria and are designed to pass 500 year flows without failure.

The project objectives are to eliminate the sites as sediment sources and provide season-long access for adult and juvenile steelhead (possibly juvenile chinook at Wildcat), and resident fish.

Construction is scheduled for July 1 to October 15, 2008

The GRMW will be the project sponsor and will coordinate all aspects of project management including agency coordination, ESA consultation, permitting, cultural resource activities, contract administration, fiscal management, subcontracting and construction oversight.  The proposed project was reviewed by the GRMW Technical Committee and approved by the GRMW Board of Directors for implementation in 2008.

Partners are BPA, Wallowa County and the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (Wildcat).   Additional cost-share funds have been acquired from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.  BPA and OWEB funds will be used for construction.  Wallowa County PWD will be responsible for maintenance.

Dry Creek

The project proposes to remove an artificially created fish barrier on Dry Creek, a tributary to Willow Creek, in Union County.  The barrier was created many years ago, date unknown, to check water up for an irrigation diversion point.  Concrete, rock and logs were placed in the channel.  Over the years a large scour hole has developed approximately 10 feet deep below the rock and asphalt resulting in a barrier to fish.  Dry Creek is habitat for summer steelhead, rainbow and other resident native fish.  At moderate spring flows adult steelhead must negotiate the 5-6 jump from the pool to the channel above the structure.  The rock and logs likely block most adult steelhead passage and all juvenile upstream passage.  Dry Creek is a relatively large drainage with somewhat flashy spring flows.  Flow in this reach becomes intermittent usually sometime in July.  Flow in the headwater tributaries is perennial and provides year-long rearing habitat.

The majority of the project area is owned by Union County.  A portion of it was used as an aggregate site for local road construction activities.  A 60-foot strip running east-west immediately above the scour pool is in private ownership.  The GRMW is coordinating with that landowner as well as the adjacent landowner that uses the irrigation point of diversion.

Project cooperators are the Grande Ronde Model Watershed Foundation and Union County Public Works Department.  

The objectives of the project are:
•Provide year-round fish passage for all life stages of all native species, particularly Snake River summer steelhead
•Maintain a stable streambed
•Maintain the site as an irrigation point of diversion for an adjacent landowner.

The proposed actions are:
•Remove the concrete and rock
•Dispose of the concrete off-site  
•Regrade the channel to a gradient consistent with the Dry Creek channel above and below the site  
•Install 4 rock cross vane grade control structures
•Install 2 rootwad revetments
•Install irrigation withdrawal siphon/infiltration pipe
•Erosion seed with native species
•Live-stake cottonwoods adjacent to grade control structures  

Construction by Union County PWD is proposed for the in-water work period July1 to October 15, 2009.  The channel will be dry during the construction period.  Anderson-Perry & Associates (AP) of  La Grande, Oregon have prepared the preliminary design and cost estimate.  AP will complete a site survey and final designs.  .  The GRMW will conduct ESA consultation, subcontract the cultural resource survey and report, and obtain Department of State Lands and Corps of Engineers permits.  

The GRMW will be the project sponsor and will coordinate all aspects of project management including agency coordination, ESA consultation, permitting, cultural resource activities, contract administration, fiscal management, subcontracting and construction oversight.  The proposed project was reviewed by the GRMW Technical Committee and approved by the GRMW Board of Directors for implementation in 2008.

Wallowa River/6 Ranch Habitat Restoration

Much of the Wallowa River below Enterprise, Oregon, has been moved, straightened, & channelized to accommodate agriculture, the railroad, and Highway 82.  In cooperation with two landowners we intend to realign nearly 4000 feet of the Wallowa River channel according to the Rosgen method with resultant improvements in fish habitat, channel form and function, channel and floodplain interaction, and riparian condition.  The phase I project will complete final design, ESA consultation, removal/fill permitting, cultural resources consultation, and bid package in FY 2007.  This proposal describes phase II, the implementation phase of the project, including construction of the new channel as per final design, riparian restoration, and post-project monitoring.

An estimated 38 species of fish, including 15 introduced species, are found in the Grande Ronde River Subbasin (Grande Ronde Subbasin Summary, 2002).  The Wallowa River reach within the project area supports spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), summer steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus),  resident rainbow/redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss gibbsi), Mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni), and a variety of non-game fish.  Spring Chinook and summer steelhead inhabit the project reach year-round.  Limited suitable spawning habitat exists for both species in the existing condition.  Both species currently utilize the project reach for adult migration and juvenile rearing.  Fluvial bull trout are likely to inhabit the reach during winter and spring, using it as a migration route and as a foraging area.  In-channel habitat diversity is lacking with very few pools or wood structure.  Riparian condition is degraded with reduced riparian vegetation or floodplain connectivity.  This reach of the river serves now primarily as a migration corridor with reduced capacity for juvenile chinook or steelhead rearing.

The Wallowa River/6-Ranch Habitat Restoration project will be implemented in Wallowa County, approximately two miles northwest of Enterprise, on the Wallowa River adjacent to State Highway 82.  The majority of the project site (Nichols) is currently managed as a seasonal pasture for Corriente cattle with the minority (Carpenter) managed for grass hay production.  The Wallowa County Salmon Habitat Recovery Plan (WCSHRP) and the Grande Ronde Subbasin Plan (GRSBP) both identify this reach of the Wallowa River as deficient for several habitat, water quality and stream function parameters.  The WCSHRP (Wallowa River – Spring Creek to head of Wallowa Canyon, pages 108 to 110) identifies the following concerns that will be addressed by this project:  
1.  Water quality; temperature (high priority)
2.  Water quality; excess fine sediment (high priority)
3.  Stream structure; woody debris (high priority)
4.  Stream structure; pool/riffle ratio (high priority)
5.  Stream structure; channelization (low priority)
6.  Stream structure; bank form (low priority)
7.  Substrate; excess fine sediment (high priority)

The GRSBP supplement further describes Wallowa River parameters of concern in the project area:
1.  Table 3-1 page 15 (spring Chinook):  Wallowa-Lostine, upper Wallowa River.  Identified key limiting factors are habitat diversity, key habitat quantity, and sediment.
2.  Table 3-2 page 16 (steelhead):  Wallowa, upper Wallowa River.  Identified key limiting factors are key habitat quantity and sediment.
3.  Table 3-3 page 17 (restoration priorities):  Restoration impacts on Chinook abundance and productivity would be large with moderate impact on steelhead abundance, productivity and diversity.  Upper Wallowa is listed as a priority geographic area.  
4.  Table 5-6 page 50:  The Wallowa-Lostine watershed is identified as having the highest potential impact to steelhead and spring Chinook populations (abundance and productivity) from comprehensive habitat restoration.

The limiting factors identified above will be addressed at the project scale and partially addressed at the reach scale.  Limiting factors improved at the project scale include: 1) Woody debris, 2) Pool/riffle ratio, 3) Channelization, 4) Bank form, 5) Habitat diversity, and 6) Key habitat quantity. At the reach scale temperature and sediment/excess fine sediment will be improved.  Fish habitat, water quality, riparian condition, and floodplain characteristics are all resources that will be improved on the project site and contribute to incremental improvement at the reach scale.

Design will be completed by Anderson Perry & Associates, inc. of La Grande, Oregon under the leadership of Brett Moore, P.E.  Design includes inventory, survey, preliminary design (30%, 50%, & 90%), final design, specification, and construction bid package.  A revegetation plans is included as part of the design contract.  Design contract also includes application and acquisition of removal/fill permits from both Oregon DSL & ACOE.  The GRMW has contracted the Nez Perce Tribe to complete cultural resources documentation and a contract biologist to prepare a biological analysis appropriate for the project site in regards to species managed by both NMFS & USFWS.  All design, permitting & consultation will be complete with permits & terms and conditions in hand by September 30, 2008.  

A conservation easement on the Nichols & Carpenter properties along the Wallowa River will be secured through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) or similar program.  Under the CREP easement, the landowner would receive annual payments on a per acre basis for a 10 to 15 year period in return for taking non-use (e.g., no grazing).  Under this program, the NRCS and SWCD would be responsible for developing and securing the agreement with the private landowner.

Specific actions involved in channel construction include excavation of soil and gravel, shaping point bars, cutting and shaping outside meanders, riffle/channel cross-over sections, channel thalweg, and shaping terraces and/or streambank slopes.  Approximately 4,000 feet of restoration channel will be constructed.  The restoration channel will be a C3 Rosgen channel type and have bankfull width, mean bankfull depth, maximum bankfull depth, cross sectional area, sinuosity, & slope appropriate to valley form and function.  

Root Wad Revetments & J-Hooks:  Large rootwads with tree boles attached will be used to construct rootwad revetments (detail included) on outside meanders of the restoration channel to ensure stability of the constructed channel radius.  Individual rootwads will be spaced appropriately apart with the tree keyed into streambank at an approximate 45 degree angle.  Oversized rock will be utilized in key-ways for ballast and stability.

J-hooks (detail included) will be constructed on outside meanders of the restoration channel to add additional structural stability of the constructed channel radius.  Individual structures will be placed appropriately apart and between root wad revetments.  

Grade Control:  Rock grade control structures will be installed at selected glide-riffle transition cross-sections to maintain vertical channel elevation and minimize risk of channel incision/head-cuts.  Typically, cross-vanes will be subsurface features and over time will be mostly buried by sediment, with low visual impact.

Revegetation:  Extensive seeding and planting will be completed to accelerate vegetation establishment.  Initial revegetation efforts will be initiated during late summer and fall 2009 following completion of channel construction.  Additional planting will be accomplished during the following spring.  Planting efforts will largely be completed while plants are dormant to maximize potential for success.  A combination of plant materials and strategies will be employed including:
1. Broadcast seeding with native/native-like seed mix of all disturbed ground (including new channel and associated floodplain).
2. Installation of sedge/rush plugs and/or mats on suitable sections (fine soil) of the new channel  
3. Live-whip installation of willow either mechanically (stinger) or manually
4. Salvage and transplant of shrubs and trees from sections of existing reach planned for reclamation.
5. Installation of containerized shrubs and trees, and
6. Installation of a temporary irrigation system utilizing landowners existing water right to provide water to plants during summer period to improve plant survival.

Pond & Wetland:  Pond & wetland areas will be constructed as shown on preliminary design maps.  Spoils generated from restoration channel construction will be used to fill in the old channel.  Typically spoils generated during construction are not sufficient to completely backfill old channel which provides opportunity to develop pond and shallow wetland habitats.  These habitats are expected to hold water year round through overland (flood flow) and subsurface processes.    

Project Objectives
1. Increase base flow depth in the Wallowa River channel, increase flooding frequency and depth on the meadow, and create pool and riffle sequences that increase the consistency of bedload transport and deposition on the floodplain.
2. Increase stream channel sinuosity, channel length, and geomorphic stability, and decrease channel gradient.
3. Improve instream, riparian, floodplain/meadow conditions and functions, including improved quality and use of riparian and meadow areas for native plant communities and wildlife.
4. Improve/increase vegetative cover/shade to moderate stream temperatures.
5. Improve/increase streambank stability.
6. Improve surface water and ground water interaction with resultant lowering of summertime stream temperature and increase wintertime stream temperature.
7. Improve properties of coldwater fish habitat and terrestrial and aquatic macroinvertebrate community composition.
8. Improve/restore use of restored stream channel segments by anadromous fish.