Summary:   Couse and Tenmile Creeks are important Snake River tributaries for anadromous salmonid production in Washington.  ESA listed stocks of summer steelhead, bull trout and spring Chinook, along with resident rainbow trout, utilize all of the smaller watersheds of Asotin County -- including Alpowa Creek, and the lower reaches of Joseph Creek and the Grande Ronde drainage.   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 priority habitat through the use of in-stream, riparian, and upland best management practices (BMPs).  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.  
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Background:  Couse Creek, a tributary to the Snake River between Tenmile Creek and the Grande Ronde River, drains approximately 24 square-miles of Asotin County.  It is held almost exclusively under private ownership; wild steelhead and rainbow/redband trout spawning and rearing have been documented by WDFW.  Tenmile Creek is another important Asotin County tributary stream, and drains into the Snake River between Asotin Creek and the Grande Ronde.  This approximately 42 square-mile watershed is also held nearly entirely in private ownership.  Wild steelhead and rainbow/redband trout spawning and rearing was documented by WDFW in 2000 and 2002.  36 redds in 15.9 miles in 2000 and 29 redds in 7 miles were also documented in 2001, with an additional 23 resident rainbow/redband trout redds.

Couse and Tenmile Creeks are protection areas identified by the Asotin Subbasin Plan, which has identified priority areas and actions for ESA listed streams within Asotin County.  As in Asotin Creek, anadromous salmonid production in these other Asotin County watersheds 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).  The ACCD, in cooperation with co-managers and local landowners, continues to identify priority restoration projects addressed to the needs of salmonids and other fish and wildlife resources in these streams.  Independently of BPA program support, the USDA CREP Program has been successful in working with landowners to protect riparian areas, and to implement upland BMPs to reduce erosion and diminish the impacts of sediment loading in these stream reaches.
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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 stream banks through agricultural BMPs, and to improve livestock management practices through actions that include exclusion from adjacent stream banks and beds, and the riparian zones.

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 in-stream 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 stream banks, 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 task(s):
- Finish installation of a rail car bridge in place of a rocked-ford crossing on Tenmile Creek: continued from prior-year contract (see #56862 at WE: W); intended to provide more appropriate and less damaging access to 1800 acres of ranch property on the opposite side of the stream.  Tire ruts mound up the stream bottom rocks through the existing ford, making it difficult for fish to pass at low water.  A bridge will eliminate sediment and fecal matter from entering the stream at the existing  ford approaches, prevent disturbance to potential redds or to spawning fish, and make fish passage much easier in low flow periods (typically July through October).
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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.