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| OWEB Board approves funds for stream, watershed and fisher employment projects | ||
| 09/21/2006 | ||
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15-06
For immediate releaseNews media contact: See reference to regional OWEB staff below Editors/reporters: A complete list of funded projects by county also is posted on OWEB’s Website at: www.oregon.gov/OWEB. Click on “News and Announcements” in the upper right corner. A separate release also will be posted regarding funds for fishing crew employment and salmon recovery.) 76 projects totaling nearly $10.2 million approved Projects totaling nearly $10.2 million were approved to protect and improve watersheds in many Oregon counties and to employ displaced coastal fishers by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board at meetings this week in Bend. Board members approved 76 grant requests totaling approximately $9.2 million for 53 restoration projects and $500,000 for one acquisition project in addition to 22 requests totaling nearly $530,000 for technical assistance projects. Larger restoration requests approved include: $1.7 million to remove two dams on the Calapooia River near Brownsville, $850,000 to restore more than 100 cubic feet per second of water to the Middle Deschutes River by piping a main irrigation canal, and more than $1 million to comprehensively treat the Willow Creek Watershed in Malheur County through irrigation system improvements and wetland and stream bank protection. Board members approved $500,000 to help purchase the 873-acre Deer Creek Ranch in Josephine County. The project will conserve and protect fish and wildlife habitat while serving education and research purposes. Project partners include the Southern Oregon University Foundation, the Siskiyou Field Institute, and the Western Rivers Conservancy. Board members authorized an additional $500,000 to fund on-the-ground restoration projects benefiting coastal coho salmon in watersheds that drain directly to the ocean. To date, the new programs have supported the employment of more than 100 displaced fishers. Examples of restoration and acquisition grant requests, by region, include: NORTH COAST For more information: OWEB North Coast Program Representative Tom Shafer, 541-528-7451 or e-mail: tshafer@teleport.com APPLICATION NO.: 207-043 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Tillamook County: Netarts Oyster Restoration APPLICANT: The Nature Conservancy Funds approved by OWEB: $39,950 Total project cost: $79,274 The Nature Conservancy proposes to conduct a two-year project to begin the restoration of native oysters to the 2,800-acre Netarts Bay located between Cape Lookout and Tillamook Bay. Reintroduction will occur, with help from the Whiskey Creek shellfish hatchery, by placing young oysters (anticipated 5 million oyster spat) attached to oyster shells into the bay on tidelands leased by Oregon State University. One of the key aspects of the project is the removal of the Japanese oyster drill from the area. TNC also will assess how native oyster restoration interacts with native eelgrass beds in the bay. Eelgrass is an important habitat for juvenile salmon. Partners include The Nature Conservancy (the applicant), the NOAA Community Restoration Program, Oregon State University, the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery and local oyster growers. APPLICATION NO.: 207-047 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Lane County: Green River Large Wood Placement & Effectiveness Monitoring Applicant: MidCoast Watershed Council Funds approved by OWEB: $48,190 Total project cost: $76,690 This application consists of two components for Green River, which is the second largest of the five significant tributaries that make up Five Rivers, itself the largest of the Alsea River tributaries. The sub-basin supports significant populations of chinook, coho, steelhead and cutthroat trout. The first component of the proposal is to complete the large wood placement treatment initiated in 2002 using OWEB funds. The project will place 22 whole trees within the private land reach, located upstream of the previously treated U.S. Forest Service ownership. The second component is to continue the effectiveness monitoring on salmon response to large wood placement by using both summer and late winter snorkel surveys on the full eight miles of coho rearing habitat in the Green River system. A similar assessment was conducted in 2004 using OWEB funds. Partners in the project include the MidCoast Watershed Council (the applicant), the U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. SOUTHWEST OREGON For more information: OWEB Southwest Oregon Program Representative Mark Grenbemer, 541-776-6010 ext. 231 or e-mail: grenbemer.mark@deq.state.or.us Josephine County: Deer Creek Applicant: Western Rivers Conservancy Funds approved by OWEB: $500,000 Total project cost: $2,550,000 This project will conserve and protect fish and wildlife habitat while serving education and research purposes through purchase of 873 acres of land surrounded by large tracts of public lands. Deer Creek, which runs through the property, is one of the major tributaries to the Wild and Scenic Illinois River. The creek supports coho salmon and fall chinook salmon. Project partners include the Southern Oregon University Foundation, the Siskiyou Field Institute, and the Western Rivers Conservancy, which has purchased the property. The foundation and institute have formed a non-profit organization, the Deer Creek Center for Field Research and Education, to manage the property. APPLICATION NO.: 207-056 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Josephine County: Grayback & Sucker Creeks Fish Habitat Restoration Applicant: Illinois Valley Watershed Council Funds approved by OWEB: $53,350 Total project cost: $113,932 The project proposes to install large segments of trees and whole trees in Lower Grayback and Sucker creeks located in the Illinois River Basin. The source for the wood will be 50 large hazard trees which will be removed from a park. An additional 20 logs supplied by a local timber company. The trees will be placed to encourage the formation of side channels. Approximately 1,000 disease resistant Port Orford cedar trees will be planted in stream bank areas. Project activities will help to stabilize stream banks, collect and hold spawning gravels and enhance off-channel habitats. Project activities will benefit steelhead, coho and chinook salmon. Project partners include the Illinois Valley Watershed Council (the applicant), the U.S. Forest Service, the Middle Rogue Steelheaders, the Student Conservation Association and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. APPLICATION NO.: 207-059 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Josephine County: Jones Creek Fish Passage Applicant: Middle Rogue Watershed Council Funds approved by OWEB: $52,638 Total project cost: $122,318 The project proposes to improve fish passage for coho, resident trout and steelhead at two culvert locations along Jones Creek. Allowing fish passage at these two locations will open up one mile of habitat. Both adult and juvenile salmonids are blocked from passing. The chosen approach includes constructing a roughened channel starting upstream from each existing culvert and extending beyond the culverts downstream. These structures will establish a roughened channel, raise water levels and reduce bank erosion. The designs further call for the removal of the steel baffles in the culvert. They will be replaced by four or five new constructed concrete baffle notches inside the existing culvert. This design incorporates new technologies started in Germany where similar designs have been successful. The project was designed by the Rogue Basin Fish Access Technical Team’s Bureau of Reclamation engineer. Project partners include the Middle Rogue Watershed Council (the applicant), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Southern Oregon Fly Fishers, Rogue Basin Fish Access Techncial Team, Oregon Chapter of the federation of Fly Fishers, The Middle Rogue Steelheaders and the Rogue Sportsman and Guides Association. APPLICATION NO.: 207-066 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Coos County: Fourmile Creek Stream Bank Restoration Applicant: Oregon Trout Funds approved by OWEB: $91,797 TOTAL COST: $594,934 The project proposes to restore a lowland reach of Fourmile Creek from its mouth at New River to 2.1 miles upstream. This section is characterized by steep banks and severe erosion as the result of historic dredging and overgrazing. The creek lacks native stream bank vegetation and in-stream large wood. Restoration activities will include stream bank fencing, creating off-channel stock watering sites, removal of noxious weeds, minor bank sloping, large wood placement and planting native vegetation. Wetlands on the property also will be buffered and fenced. Project partners include Oregon Trout (the applicant), Bandon Biota, LLC, the Jubitz Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, landowners and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. WILLAMETTE RIVER BASIN For more information: OWEB Willamette Basin Program Representative Wendy Hudson, 503-986-0061 or wendy.hudson@state.or.us APPLICATION NO.: 207-087 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Linn County: Sodom Dam Project Applicant: Calapooia Watershed Council Funds approved by OWEB: $1,036,803 Total project cost: $1,382,405 This project will remove part of the existing Sodom Dam and construct a fish ladder that will provide improved fish passage for spring Chinook and winter steelhead. In addition, the channel bed will be modified to limit subsurface flows and to maintain stability in a 100-year flood event. The 1957 dam is located on Sodom ditch — a 6.7-mile-long, high-water diversion channel off the Calapooia River near Brownsville.. In 2004, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department obtained a permanent easement for the dam, which is part of the Thompson’s Mill complex, Oregon’s oldest continuously operated water-powered grist mill. The Calapooia Watershed Council, located in Brownsville, is the applicant. Project partners include the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Water Resources Department, NOAA Fisheries, and Oregon Water Trust. The dam is located eight miles below the Brownsville Dam, which also is proposed for removal using OWEB funds (see below). APPLICATION NO.: 207-091 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Linn County: Removal of Brownsville Dam & Restoration of the Calapooia River Applicant: Calapooia WSC Funds approved by OWEB: $676,710 Total project cost: $860,020 This project will remove the Brownsville Dam to restore fish passage for cutthroat trout, Pacific lamprey, winter steelhead and spring Chinook salmon. The 1960s dam, located east of Brownsville on the Calapooia River, impounds water for only three months of the year. The impoundment sends water into a canal for primarily aesthetic benefits. Educational features of the project include a display at the Linn County History Museum describing the benefits of returning the river to a more naturally functioning condition. The Calapooia Watershed Council, located in Brownsville, is the applicant. Project partners include the City of Brownsville, Brownsville Canal Company, Linn County Parks, Bella Vista Foundation, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Water Resources Department, NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. CENTRAL OREGON For more information: OWEB Central Oregon Program Representative Rick Craiger, 541-923-7353 or SL00015@bendbroadband.com APPLICATION NO.: 207-096 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Deschutes County: Middle Deschutes Streamflow Restoration Phase I Applicant: Deschutes River Conservancy Funds approved by OWEB: $850,000 Total project cost: $2,300,000 This project is part of a five-year plan to permanently restore over 100 cubic feet per second of water to the Middle Deschutes River. This first phase would pipe 1.7 miles of the main canal for the Swalley Irrigation District and result in 6.8 cfs being permanently transferred to the river. Approximately 50% of the water diverted for irrigation from the Deschutes does not reach crop land due principally to seepage into the volcanic soils. Inadequate steamflow is the primary limiting factor to native fish distribution and productivity. Low flows also affect water quality. Project partners include the Deschutes River Conservancy (the applicant) and the Swalley Irrigation District. APPLICATION NO.: 207-097 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Lake County: Drews Creek Fish Passage/Screening Applicant: Jack & Beverly Sparrowk Funds approved by OWEB: $9,831 Total project cost: $208,876 This project, about 15 miles west of Lakeview, would result in fish passage and screening at four irrigation diversions on Drews Creek. There are five state classified sensitive fish species in the project reach: Goose Lake Tui Chub, Pit Roach, Pit Sculpin, Goose Lake Sucker and Goose Lake Lamprey. The landowner is working closely with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to design these structures and provide fish screening. This is one of many projects the landowners are undertaking to improve water quality and habitat values. Project partners include Jack and Beverly Sparrowk (the applicant) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. EASTERN OREGON For more information: OWEB Eastern Oregon Program Representative Karen Leiendecker, 541-426-0342 or kleiende@eou.edu APPLICATION NO.: 207-129 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Wallowa County: McDaniel II, Wallowa River Channel Relocation Applicant: Grande Ronde Model WS Program Funds approved by OWEB: $104,156 Total project cost: $257,110 The project will restore degraded stream bank and floodplain habitat, improve instream habitat diversity and water quality for adult and juvenile steelhead and spring chinook salmon near Lostine. This project will replace a 1,585-foot stretch of the Wallowa River that has been modified and channelized with 2,013 feet of new channel. Other components include placement of 50 root wads, four rock weirsand extensive planting. This is the second phase of a channel relocation project. Cost-share partners include the Grande Ronde Model Watershed Program (the applicant), the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the landowner. APPLICATION NO.: 207-130 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Malheur County—Choir Boys, LLC, Constructed Wetland Project Applicant: Malheur Soil and Water Conservation District Funds approved by OWEB: $219,599 TOTAL COST: $288,694 Located near Adrian, this project will create a 13-acre, five-pond constructed wetland to filter agricultural drainwater that flows directly into the Snake River. The first .4-acre sediment pond will capture sediment before it can clog the shallow second 2.1-acre pond designed to filter nitrates and sediment. The third pond is 5.9 acres and will clean out phosphates as well as provide wildlife habitat. The fourth pond will be 3.8 acres and complete the treatment of phosphates and E. coli. The fifth .8-acre pond will capture any remaining contaminants. The project is located at the confluence of the Singer drain with the Snake River in the Big Bend area. Watershed benefits are significantly improved water quality and providing some excellent habitat for avian wildlife. Partners are the Malheur Soil and Water Conservation District (the applicant), the landowners, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Upland Bird Stamp Program and the Snake River Correctional Institution (inmate planting crew). APPLICATION NO.: 207-138 PROJECT TYPE: Restoration Malheur County: Willow Creek Restoration Phase I Applicant: Lower Willow Creek Working Group Funds approved by OWEB: $1,050,568 TOTAL COST: $3,352,501 This project provides the opportunity to comprehensively treat the Willow Creek Watershed, located west of Vale. The Willow Creek Working Group proposes to treat 30,000 acres of the watershed. Willow Creek landowners are proposing to improve water quality and fish habitat by systematically upgrading their antiquated irrigation system, which will conserve water and eliminate irrigation-induced erosion, improve feedlots, protect wetlands and install streambank protection. Project components include: installation of 9.5 miles of piped irrigation laterals that deliver canal water to multiple users; 11.6 miles of streambank protection; 16 miles of buried irrigation water pipeline; three pumpback systems to recycle water collected at the bottom of fields; four wetland filter ponds;12 booster pumps; 11 off-stream water troughs; 7,900 feet of pipe for water troughs; 3,440 wetland plants; 7,500 feet of PVC to bypass animal waste; 490 acres of rangeland improvement and water quality monitoring. Partners include the Lower Willow Creek Working Group (the applicant), the Bureau of Reclamation, Vale Oregon Irrigation District, Willow Creek landowners and Pheasants Forever. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Malheur County Weed Department provided technical assistance. Daniel Heagerty, Portland, and Jane O’Keeffe, Adel, serve as co-chairs of the 17-member Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Members represent the public at large, tribes, state natural resource agency boards and commissions, the Oregon State University Extension Service, and federal natural resource agencies. The board is supported by a state agency of the same name that provides grants and services to citizen groups, organizations and agencies working to restore healthy watersheds in Oregon. OWEB actions support the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, created in 1997. Funding comes from the Oregon Lottery as a result of a citizen initiative in 1998, sales of salmon license plates, federal salmon funds and other sources. For more information, visit www.oregon.gov/OWEB or call OWEB in Salem at 503-986-0178. ###########
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