The project will plan, design and identify permitting for the restoration of 1 mile of East Fork Scott River and 1.6 miles of Grouse Creek, Siskiyou County. The East Fork Scott River is a key coho and Chinook spawning and rearing tributary of the Scott River and Grouse Creek contributes significant cold water inputs. The project encompasses private and public land, engages a tribal collaborator and focuses on nature based solutions to enhance salmon resilience to drought and climate change.
To address the dire effects of accumulated anthropogenic impacts and climate change on coho, and meet the goals of Governor Newson’s 30 x 30 initiative, the scale and scope of restoration must accelerate. This Project will contribute to doing so in the East Fork Scott River Watershed, which is known to support multiple anadromous fishes including coho salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead Trout and Pacific Lamprey.
The Klamath National Forest has identified the East Fork Scott River as a focus watershed for restoration, and among their high priority actions is restoring Grouse Creek, which has been highly degraded by placer mining resulting in a loss of floodplain connectivity and associated habitats. The stream bed has incised, eliminating pools, spawning gravel, and the vegetation necessary to provide shade and food inputs to the stream, as well as decreasing water quality and lowering the water table of the former floodplain. Fish have no refuge from high stream velocities and cannot persist without access to missing slower water in side channels, oxbows and wetlands on the floodplain.
Utilizing a Technical Advisory Team including key personnel from USFS, NOAA, Quartz Valley Indian Reservation, consultants, CDFW and the Regional Waterboard, and the Scott River Watershed Council will assess baseline conditions, develop restoration options, select preferred options, and complete 100% designs for the preferred option. The options to be considered for Grouse Creek’s depositional valley are a Stage-0 treatment and more low tech alternatives.
