Fish Passage

DG. High road density in lower reaches, medium density in upper reaches.

H - Open three or more miles of good quality habitat used by at least one stock of salmon or steelhead.  Exceptions:  include very cost efficient projects addressing unique limiting habitat or benefiting multiple stocks.

H - Bridges are the preferred structure.  If culverts are used, they should be sized to allow full access to all fish species and life history stages.

H - Inventory, assess, and prioritize all habitat blockages (culverts, dikes, railroad grades, etc.) for all salmonid life history stages. 

H - Develop a database housed with the lead entity, to contain all blockage data. 

Floodplain Conditions

DG – Poor in lower.

H - Reconnect potential off-channel habitat. 

H – Reconnect off-channel habitat identified in Ralph et al. (1994).

H - Restoration actions need to increase instream LWD to help address channel incision and flow issues.  This includes appropriate riparian restoration to result in better future LWD levels.

H - Maintain, conserve, and prioritize off-channel and side channel habitat and associated riparian. 

H - Inventory impacts and suitable restoration sites for floodplain habitat coincident with the barrier/culvert inventory.

Sediment: Spawning gravel quantity

Poor, except in upper reaches. High road density, high bank erosion, landslides.

H- Decommission roads at risk of landslides, especially side-cast roads.

H - Correct high impact road sediment delivery problems via push-outs, cross-drains, and sediment traps etc.

H - Increase protection of steep and unstable slopes.

H - Stabilize and revegetate exposed mass wasting sites to reduce surface erosion.

H – Relocate gravel extraction activities away from shorelines and the 100-year floodplain.

H – Reduce livestock access to Black Creek.

H – Preserve beaver dams in lower 28 miles.

H - Inventory roads and assess impacts to salmonids and prioritize restoration actions accordingly. 

H – Further study on WIN data.

LWD

DG

M - Actions are needed to increase LWD, or similarly functioning natural structures, in appropriate places.  This would include anchoring LWD and increasing natural recruitment potential (riparian restoration).

H – Prevent removal of appropriate pieces of LWD, and other natural structures, within the floodplain through increased education and enforcement. 

M - Determine appropriateness through inventory or other assessment of LWD, or other natural structure(s), placement.  (E.g. gravel recruiting, hydrology, wood or structure size, gradient, near term LWD recruitment potential, and valley confinement)

M – Characterize LWD in basin.

Riparian

Poor in lower; poor-fair in middle; good in upper.

H - Revegetate open riparian areas with native plants including conifers in appropriate places.

M - Interplant conifer into hardwood riparian areas that were historically conifer areas.   

M- Plant conifer adjacent to and outside existing and limited existing conifer hardwood riparian areas.

H - Funds, lands, and easement opportunities should be identified to obtain areas of mid-to-late seral stage riparian with priority given to older stands.  This is applicable to lands that do not have current protection such as those outside of current forest practice regulations.

H – Preserve good riparian areas in upper.

H - Assess and prioritize recovery and protection for riparian conditions.

Water Quality

Poor. Warm water temperatures

H - Actions need to address sediment, riparian, and flow problems. 

H - Reduce livestock access to Black Creek. 

H - Increase activities that lead to natural recharge of the aquifers and maintain or improve hydrological maturity. 

H - Restore wetlands and off-channel habitat.

H - Decrease activities that interfere with the natural recharge of aquifers or degrade hydrological maturity.

H – Continue water quality monitoring, water temperatures, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity.

Water Quantity

Poor. Poor hydrologic maturity, dam operation, water withdrawals.

H - Reduce water withdrawals from surface sources. 

H - Increase activities that lead to natural recharge of the aquifers and maintain or improve hydrologic maturity. 

H – Dam operations should emulate natural flow conditions during adult migration and juvenile emigration periods.

H -Restore wetlands and off-channel habitat.

H – Restore water quantity and buy back water rights.

H - Decrease activities that interfere with the natural recharge of aquifers or degrade hydrological maturity.

H – Place a moratorium on further water withdrawal.

H – Continue stream flow monitoring

Biological Processes

Good

L - Increase contribution of marine –derived nutrients through increased use of carcasses. 

H - Increase field surveys for salmonid escapement, distribution, and habitat use by life history stage.

L - Assess marine-derived nutrient processes.