Lewis River Program Update 2022
The 2022 field/stream restoration and stewardship programs are about to start, however, because of intensive late spring rains that caused high stream channel flows, field work and contacts for assistance requested by landowners have been delayed.
Also, we are deeply aware of the potential impact of Climate Change and Global Warming on surface and groundwater quantity and quality within Clark County watersheds, as well as potential impacts on streams and Threatened and Endangered (T&E) fish species in Southwest Washington.
Over the past 20 years we have done over 30 river and fisheries restoration projects from La Center on up onto the headwaters on the National Forest, Cedar Creek/Chelatchie Creek, Salmon Creek along with a lot of collaboration and teamwork with other “good land stewardship groups” to design and supervise construction for them. Even with the late cold wet spring, with the help of volunteers, we intend to get more projects and collaboration done.
LAST FIELD SEASON WORK HIGHLIGHTS:
Recently completed projects include the Pleasant Valley Spring fed pool improvement located adjacent to Salmon Creek done last fall. The project was a salmon rearing pool/stream channel reroute done in collaboration with Trout Unlimited and cooperation with Clark County Parks Dept. We are monitoring the project and find that after all the winter and spring rains, it continues to be functioning well when it was field checked in late May and the surrounding land was dry.
Just this last month in collaboration with Bonneville Power and WA Dept. Fish and Wildlife (WD FW), we assisted in the placement of about 100,000 Chum Salmon fry in the lower East Fork by the Powerline Bend located in the main channel just off of the Dean Swanson property. This is a collaborative program that has been ongoing for about the last 10 years or more whose goal is to bring back T&E Endangered listed Chum in the East Fork. The chum fry were raised in a fish hatchery in Southwest Washington and trucked over to the project site. So far we have received no adult return data available from WDFW but have gotten reports from fisherman in the last 2 year stating they saw adult chum spawning between the Swanson Powerline Bend and Daybreak Bridge.
At the Grace Lodge salmon fry rearing pool on Manly Road Creek which flows into the East Fork, a floating “Fish Cover Shed” was installed and more spawning gravel was added to the existing salmon spawning riffles above the pool.
NEW PROJECTS AND ONGOING WORK:
Mason Creek is an unusual tributary stream located off the East Fork upstream of La Center, and based on salmon fry (baby fish) rescue results and a WA DFW fry survey, has proven to be a very good producer of T&E listed Steelhead and Coho salmon fry. Recent studies done my Bonneville Power determined that these kinds of smaller tributary stream are a major source of fish production in the lower Columbia River System. Their good local management and protection is very important.
In the past, FOEF has done 3 other fish habitat improvement projects in Mason Creek as well as using it as a field learning work site for the La Center High School Environmental and Good Land Stewardship Class.
Currently on the lower sections of Mason Creek above J. A. Moore Road, we are working with local land owners to design a stream bank repair/fish habitat restoration project. We have the stream channel hydrologic field data and hope to complete the Plan in time to do the project this field season.
Much of our Program and Project work is done by FOEF Members and volunteers with a wide variety of skills, (which includes very experienced retired fish and stream specialists) as well as collaboration with other groups, state and federal agencies. Some of the work also involves Salmon Creek and Cedar Creek as well as the East Fork where we have designed and helped build collaborative projects.
There is also a very important stream monitoring part of our Program that utilizes FOEF Members, land owners, and interested volunteers to check on stream bank conditions and other water related impacts on the East Fork in order to determine where water and watershed related activities may be needed. Because of the heavy rains this past winter and late spring high level of river and tributary flow, safety for both checking site conditions and/or getting data and information for designing new projects, caused much work related to our priorities and plans for the 2022 field season to be delayed.
We expect field work conditions of all types to improve and we will be reaching out for volunteers as well as collaborating with other fisheries and watershed groups to develop a wide range of field new activities identified as well as those that are ongoing.
Some of the projects will be new, and others will involve improving and maintaining or supporting existing projects such as parks and recreation protected land acquisition as well as enforcement of existing codes and regulations to protect surface water, groundwater and fisheries. The size of project will vary from relatively small (maintenance work) to larger new projects, as well as doing surveys and analysis for potential stream restoration at the request of landowners, —but all efforts should be important and significant.
COORDINATION WITH CLARK COUNTY PARKS:
On June 1st, we met with Kevin Tyler (Lands Manager) and Denielle Cowley (new Lands Coordinator) of County Parks. Danielle wanted to introduce herself and learn more about the FOEF programs and projects. We discussed our current 2022 Program And Project Plans as well as those done in the recent past.
FIELD PROJECTS AND COLLABORATION:
As mentioned earlier, the types of watershed/fisheries activities include a wide range of activity such as:
1. Installing “Beaver Deceiver” pipes in beaver days to maintain late summer downstream water flow levels in stream channels that have active salmon rearing pools.
2. Doing additional stream bank tree and shrub plantings as well as damage replacement where needed.
3. “Tweaking” existing projects where successive high water flooding has caused some damage to stream bank and fish habitat improvement treatments.
4. Gathering new field data and information as well as key monitoring on stream channel conditions using a team of professionally supervised volunteers.
5. Responding to the requests from individual land owners regarding concerns and issues on the tributaries and main channel of the East Fork, and also other streams in the Clark County area.
6. Continue working with local schools and teachers as they see the need for field class support and technical support information.
7. Continue and strengthen the collaboration with other stream and watershed groups.
8. Increase the level of communication with various WA State and Clark County departments in order to learn early on about new projects that may have environmental and critical areas impacts as well as to improve and protect our salmonid fish populations and watershed conditions before governmental decisions are made that could have severe long-term impacts.
9. With the help of landowners, volunteers and other groups, look for ways to better protect and improve our surface and groundwater quality and supply. This is critically important with the impending threat of Climate Change and Global Warming impacts.
10. Work with Clark County and others to designate more Critical Aquifer Resource Areas “CARA’s” as requested by the State of WA in its new CARA management manual.
11. Increase the level of our current use of licensed Drone Flights to monitor stream conditions, existing projects, and gather data on new project areas. Add more and replace out-of-date continuous temperature monitoring recorders at key sites in the lower East Fork.
12. Continue to monitor and review existing and proposed gravel and rock mining sites for impacts on water quality, streams, and T&E listed fish.
13. Recruit or train more volunteers to assist in field work, including those with skills in equipment operation, construction, data documentation and tabulation, and support basic light groundwork support tasks.
14. Increase our level of outreach that includes both government entities, business groups, companies, and non-profit organizations to apply for grants, funding support, and also in-kind materials and services donations. Consider holding quarterly public meetings for members and interested public as in the past.
SUMMARY:
The East Fork is a stream with special natural attributes including several spectacular water falls where one can watch salmon try to jump the falls, four (4) T&E listed species of salmonids (chum, coho, chinook, and steelhead), Washington State official status as a steelhead gene bank. The East Fork also meets the economic and social criteria to be classified as an “Irreplaceable Natural Asset.”
It is located a short drive distance from the fast growing Portland/Vancouver area and is an important factor on why people want to continue living here and new people want to move here to work and enjoy a wide range of high quality natural and man-made recreation opportunities.
But now the river and its watershed need to be better managed, stronger protected, and improvements made where past and some present people and growth related activities have caused degradation in various sections of the river channel and impacted the proper biologic and geomorphic functioning of the river, tributary streams, and the watershed. In particular, the County needs to do a better job of following critical areas protection, coliform pollution standards and to make sure we both reduce the amount and prevent no new septic discharge in the floodplain.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, FRIENDS OF THE EAST FORK
27511 NE 29th Ave., Ridgefield WA, 98642