This contract covers implementation work for the restoration of Peshastin Creek at river-mile 2.5-3. This contract will result in improvement of 0.5 miles of stream complexity, creation of 2 new pilot channels and 1 new side channel, and installation of 53 engineered log jams.

Project Prioritization:
The project occurs in the Lower Peshastin Creek Assessment Unit, which is a Tier 2 priority for restoration for steelhead and chinook. The project occurs in the Lower 03 reach which is a reach rank 2. High priority life stages in this reach include spawning and incubation.  This project will address the following high priority habitat impairments deemed as at risk or unacceptable by the RTT in Reach 3 of the lower Peshastin AU: riparian canopy cover, cover- wood, pool quality and quantity, floodplain connectivity, off-channel and side channels, channel, and bank stability. The project will largely benefit steelhead and all their life stages as Peshastin Creek is a top producer of wild steelhead in the Wenatchee despite its impairments.

Cascade Fisheries (CF) is seeking to enhance habitat for Endangered Species Act (ESA)- listed and Tribal trust species through engineered log jam (ELJ) placement; floodplain and wetland reconnection via relict and constructed side channel engagement; and riparian enhancement in a reach of Peshastin Creek spanning river mile (RM) 2.5 – 3.0 near Peshastin, Washington. Within this reach, construction of Washington State Route (SR) 97 and conversion of forested land to agricultural and residential uses, including construction of irrigation diversions, has confined the creek from its historic floodplain, thereby reducing the quantity and quality of instream and floodplain habitats, and associated riverine processes.

The proposed restoration actions are intended to restore instream and floodplain habitats and river processes to improve severely impaired habitat conditions. The proposed actions will help address climate resiliency and the following limiting factors for ESA-listed species priority life stages within the project reach, as identified by the Upper Columbia Regional Technical Team (RTT):
-    Unacceptably low summer base flow,
-    Unacceptably high instream temperatures,
-    Lack of instream cover and wood,
-    Poor floodplain connectivity, and
-    Poor quantity and quality of off-channel and side-channel habitats.
-    Poor riparian canopy cover
-    Unacceptable temperature for rearing

Specific restoration goals and objectives were developed by CF and design consultant Natural Systems Design (NSD) in collaboration with the landowners, the RTT, and the HCP Tributary Committees. The project goals and objectives are:

-    Goal: Increase late summer spring chinook adult holding habitat to increase survival during the critical period prior to spawning.
-    Objective: Install large wood structures to develop scour pools and improve cover.
-    Objective: Install large wood structures and increase stable wood loading and provide for retention of mobile wood in the reach to improve cover and habitat complexity, and encourage floodplain interaction.

-    Goal: Increase summer and winter spring chinook and steelhead juvenile rearing habitat.
-    Objective: Install large wood structures to create local pool formation and improve cover.
-    Objective: Increase off-channel habitat access during winter months to provide velocity refugia and foraging habitat for juveniles.

-    Goal: Reduce late summer stream temperature impacts by promoting stream shading and to reduce solar loading to improve conditions for spring chinook and steelhead during the critical holding period.
-    Objective: Maintain and expand existing forested riparian vegetation communities and under- plant with coniferous species to promote long-term stream shading.

-    Goal: Increase streamflow during low flow periods and mitigate climate change impacts by improving floodplain connectivity, riparian health, and enhancing water storage.
-    Objective: Excavate pilot and side channels to increase connectivity of mainstem flows to off-channel habitat which will be connected at the 50% exceedance flow.
-    Objective: Excavate pilot and side channels to increase connectivity of mainstem flows to floodplain habitats during larger flood events (i.e., 2- and 10-year).
-    Objective: Install large wood structures to divert flows towards river right, increasing floodplain connection.

These actions will improve fish passage to new and existing floodplain rearing habitat for juvenile ESA-listed salmonids, and increase species resiliency under current and projected climate change scenarios.