Rivers are vital parts of our ecosystems, and they behave differently depending on the climate they flow through. In a Mediterranean climate, which is characterized by hot, dry summers and variable, wet winters, river flow can be particularly interesting. Let’s explore some important terms and concepts related to river flow that is represented in our unique climate and system.

What is River Flow?

At its most basic, river flow, or discharge, is the volume of water that moves through a river over a specific period of time. On the Trinity River, flow is typically measured in cubic feet per second (CFS). Currently flow rates are measured in a few locations above and below Trinity and Lewiston Dams. Discharge on the Trinity River at Lewiston has been measured daily since 1911, when Model T’s were just rolling off of the assembly line!

There are very few rivers in California that experience full natural flow. Most Northern California rivers are managed through dams that generate power, create water diversions, or hold back water for later use. Dams block upstream deposits of water, wood and sediment and when managed narrowly have caused significant harm to riverine ecology downstream.

Understanding river flow both pre-dam and post-dam helps river ecologists to compare current management with the pre-dam natural conditions that species and their ecology developed within. This strategy aims to deepen understanding of the natural environment to provide favorable conditions for plants, wildlife, and people that depend on the river.

Why is River Flow Important?

The Trinity River’s flow is crucial for many reasons:

• Ecosystems: Flow influences the types of plants and animals that live in and around the river.
• Water Supply: The Trinity River provides drinking water, supports economic development, supplies irrigation for agriculture and generates power for millions of Californians.
• Recreation: The Trinity River supports activities like fishing, boating, hiking, gold panning, wildlife viewing and swimming.

Key Terms Related to River Flow: Managed vs Natural

Natural Seasonal Flow: Although highly variable from year to year, undammed rivers in a Mediterranean climate, tend to exhibit seasonal patterns. During the rainy winter months, flow rates typically increase due to precipitation, the size and magnitude of that increase depends on seasonal patterns and the frequency of storm events. In the spring, snow in the mountains melts adding flow to the Trinity River and its watershed. Conversely, in summer, flow rates tend to slowly decrease as the dry season progresses.

Natural Base Flow: This is the normal level of water flow in a river during dry periods. It usually comes from groundwater and keeps the river flowing even when there hasn’t been rain for a while. In a Mediterranean climate, base flow can be low during the summer months due less water in the system and high evaporation rates. Baseflows are important for cold-blooded aquatic species like foothill yellow legged frogs who utilize slow water for rearing and then populate riverside riparian areas as adults.

Hydrograph: A graph that illustrates how the flow of water in a river changes over time. It shows time on the horizontal axis and the flow rate, usually measured in cubic feet per second, on the vertical axis. As the line on the graph rises, it indicates an increase in river flow (like after rain), and when it falls, it represents a decrease (such as during dry periods). Hydrographs are important for managing water resources, studying weather patterns as well and ensuring that environmental flow needs are met in regulated river systems.

Natural Surface Runoff: After it rains, water flows over the land and enters rivers. This is known as surface runoff. Winter rains in the Trinity watershed typically lead the tributaries and the Trinity River (below Douglas City) to a spike in flow. However, the impact is highly dependent on the water year, ground saturation and snow accumulation. Surface runoff provides additional wood, leaf litter and sediment to rivers which are the building blocks for healthy habitat creation in the Trinity system.

Over-bank floods: When there is a lot of rain in a short period, rivers can overflow their banks, causing over-bank floods. On the Trinity River over-bank floods are more likely to occur during the wet season and provide important ecological functions, including to Trinity River fish. These flows improve soil quality, provide prime growing grounds for aquatic insects and other fish food and help to reset the form of the river’s main channel through scour.

Environmental Flow: Is a management term that identifies the quantity and timing of water needed to sustain the health of river ecosystems, particularly downstream from a dam. Managing environmental flow is important for maintaining habitat for Trinity River salmonids and other wildlife that depend on the river. Within the environmental flows framework there are many methods for implementation. Since 2004, the Trinity River Restoration Program’s method for environmental flows were based on functional implementation of three periods, a summer baseflow (450 CFS), a fall/winter baseflow (300 CFS), and a spring snowmelt mimic hydrograph. Since 2016 local scientists have advocated to adapt this method by adding variable flows to the wet-season months (December – April) for the benefit of growing healthier juvenile salmonids.

Recommended Periods within the Environmental Flow Timeline for Water Year 2025

1. December 15 – February 15 – Synchronized Storm Pulse

A dam release synchronized to a natural storm event. The release is triggered by a CNRFC forecast for the Trinity River above North Fork that rises to 4500 CFS or more. Once initiated, the release would be triggered even if the forecast is reduced. The primary purpose is to reduce redd smothering by preventing fine sediment accumulation from tributaries, to maximize the synchrony between tributaries and the mainstem of the river, as well as recondition the streambed and align the ecology for salmon food production.

2. February 16 – April 15 – Wet Season Flood

Depending on forecast water year type in the California Department of Water Resources February B120 forecast and whether a synchronized flow has occurred, the Program may schedule flows above baseflow in the Feb. 15 to Apr. 15 timeframe. Depending on the March B120 forecast, the schedule may be adjusted as of March 15. The primary purpose of this is to inundate floodplains for aquatic food production and habitat for juvenile salmonids at the right time of year – similar to natural wet season flooding.

3. April 16 – Variable – Snowmelt Peak and Recession

The spring snowmelt peak and recession are an important annual migratory cue for both adult and juvenile chinook. The Program has implemented a spring snow-melt mimic release annually since 2004. CDWR April B120 forecast determines total volume of restoration flow releases. Water that has not been released for Storm Pulse Flows or Wet Season Flooding is scheduled for release during the Snowmelt Peak and Recession period. This schedule encompasses many purposes for river ecology and the salmonid life cycle.

4. Managed Base Flow

Baseflows released from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River are currently managed at 450 CFS through the summer, shifting to 300 CFS on Oct 15 through the subsequent spring. This management strategy is a relic from the 1999 Flow Study and was put in place with the mindset that increasing baseflow in the summertime could help with river temperature management for migrating adult spring chinook. Flows reduce in the fall because temperature objectives are no longer needed. In addition, water managers leaned on water savings during the fall through the wet season so that accumulation in the system could be understood prior to use for diversions or river ecology. Fish biologists hypothesize that if current summer and fall management were adapted to a more natural hydrograph it may serve Trinity River salmonids and other wildlife better.

Caddisflies, unlike mayflies, will live for several weeks while they seek out a mate. You will often see them active at dusk and just after sunset. Keep a look out for the large moth-like bugs during sunset for the next few weeks.

References

Resh, V.H., M. Hannaford, J. Jackson, G.A. Lamberti, and P.K. Mendez. 2011. The biology of the limnephilid caddisfly Dicosmoecus gilvipes (Hagen) in Northern California and Oregon (USA) streams. Zoosymposia 5:413-419.

Images courtesy of Red’s Fly Shop and Troutnut.com

Since the foundational 1999 Trinity River Flow Evaluation Report, more than 20 years of scientific research within the Trinity River Basin and from rivers across the world have improved outcomes for Trinity River salmonids. This wealth of new and improved knowledge has made scientists within the Program increasingly aware that changes to flow management have the potential to increase the strength and resiliency of juvenile salmonids produced in the Trinity River.

Many studies have shown that when floodplains and side channels get wet at the right time of year when juvenile salmon can use them, then they can take advantage of all the extra food that those habitats create. When fish can access important habitat, increase their food consumption, and have the right temperatures for growth, they can grow faster, get bigger, and survive better.

Recommendations for Change

Changes to Trinity River flow management to partially mimic the seasonality of natural flow were approved by the Trinity Management Council this past September. Program partners in our Flow Workgroup technical advisory committee developed a collaborative proposal that met ecological objectives and accommodated recreational considerations requested by Trinity County. The proposal also needed to adhere to existing environmental regulations.  Following the affirmative Trinity Management Council vote in September, the recommendation is now awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Water Year 2025 environmental flow management is designed to partially mimic natural seasonality so that river ecology can build around flow as it did prior to dams. These managed flows do not strictly follow the natural ecology of the watershed, but rather they represent management that strikes a balance between ecological needs, water availability, and other management and infrastructure constraints. Scientists hypothesize that adding pulse flows, increasing flow in winter, and decreasing flow in the spring and summer could be beneficial to Trinity River salmonids. However, there is no recommendation for this water year to reduce minimum baseflows in summer or fall.

First Recommended Change: Synchronized Storm Pulse

The first recommended sequential change is the two-month Synchronized Storm Pulse period (December 15-February 15) where there may be one peak flow of 6,500 cubic feet per second released from Lewiston Dam timed to match a natural storm event. This synchronized flow would consist of a rapid flow increase release held for a short period then reduced to 750 cubic feet per second. A synchronized storm pulse would only be triggered if the river is predicted to be at least 4,500 cubic feet per second near the North Fork Trinity River. No synchronized release would occur if the river is not predicted to reach that level between December 15 and February 15.  

Winter storm pulses provide many ecological benefits, primarily by causing streambed disturbance. Sediments ranging in size from sand to large gravel are displaced and moved downstream, and wood in the channel can be moved or cause erosion in the channel that increases habitat diversity. Fine sediments rich in nutrients are also washed onto upland riparian areas that are typically dry. As waters recede, nutrients remain to help develop a healthy riparian community of plants and animals. For salmon, the disturbance from big powerful storms provides opportunity for small, soft-bodied bugs to proliferate, which are an excellent food source for small juvenile salmonids as they emerge from the gravel.

Since 1960’s, with very few exceptions, typical winter flow releases from Lewiston Dam have remained under 300 cubic feet per second. When big storms pass through, tributaries deliver trees, nutrients, and all sizes of sediment, which enter the Trinity River where flows are artificially low due to limited dam releases. Often there is not enough flow in the Trinity River to move these deliveries from tributaries, so they settle out quickly. Where Deadwood Creek enters the Trinity River, large fine sediment deposits from the 2018 Carr fire have immediately settled into slow waters in recent years resulting in two negative effects. First, the tributary delta has formed unnaturally, and second fine sediments have smothered and suffocated salmon and steelhead eggs in the gravel.

Second Recommended Change: Wet-Season Flood

The second recommended change is the two-month (February 16 – April 15) Wet-Season Flood period, during which dam releases would be elevated above the typical 300 cfs baseflow with some variability. The amount of water released during this period depends on seasonal snow and rain accumulation and a conservative forecast of inflow to Trinity Reservoir from the California Department of Water Resources (90% B120).

These beneficial floods push water onto floodplains and keeps them wet for months, which essentially converts terrestrial habitat into aquatic habitat just as salmon and steelhead begin to emerge from the gravel and populations increase. This seasonal aquatic habitat grows food for fish and provides slow water habitat for small fish to rest, grow, and escape many aquatic predators.

Snow Melt Peak and Recession

The Snowmelt Peak and Recession period has been implemented on the Trinity River for the past 20 years. The action provides important migration cues for adult and juvenile salmonids. Peak flows can provide many of the benefits that winter storm pulse flows provide earlier in the year, resetting the base of the food web and delivering nutrients to riparian areas. Receding flows trigger spring Chinook Salmon returning from the ocean to migrate toward over-summer habitat. Additionally, juvenile salmon and steelhead migrate out of rivers, to the ocean, as habitat availability decreases with dropping flows.

Proposed changes to flow management in 2025 would use the same volume of water that has been available since 2000, so any water released for a synchronized storm pulse or wet season flood would be borrowed from the spring snow melt release. As a result, releases would slow earlier, reducing cold-water impacts to fish growth while providing ecological benefits earlier in the year. Adjustments to flow management that more closely align dam releases with natural ecological processes are intended to also benefit other aquatic and semi-aquatic species, such as Foothill Yellow Legged frogs and Northwestern Pond turtles.

As mentioned, the recommendations presented for water year 2025 are designed to partially mimic natural seasonal processes so that ecological function can develop on the seasonal timeline, as it did for millennia prior to dam construction. Program scientists have long known that these recommended changes are necessary for making progress toward producing stronger healthier Trinity River fish populations.

If changes are approved by the Department of the Interior, the Trinity River Restoration Program will announce details regarding; flow action changes, ways to stay informed and notification timelines as they develop.

Ways to stay informed

Join the Trinity Releases email group

Follow our Facebook page

Join the TRRP newsletter email group

If you have questions, please contact the Trinity River Restoration Program office at 530/623-1800 or by emailing your question to info@trrp.net.

Isonychiidae mayflies usually live an entire year in the river as nymphs before swimming to the edges of the river, crawling out of the river on a rock, and emerging into their sub-adult stage.  As adults, they typically only live for a day or two as their only job is to mate, lay eggs, and then die. Isonychiidae mayflies are noted for their large size compared to other mayflies and for their unique swimming ability. They are very adept swimmers and use their swimming prowess to capture their prey. They also have fine hairs on their forelegs which trap algae and other detritus which they then consume. The nymphs are a very strange looking (compared to other mayflies) and are readily identifiable by their elongated shape and ‘racing-stripe’ down their backs. Looking closely, the hairs on their forelegs become readily apparent and they are very easy to identify for any aquatic entomologist. 

Animals, too, enjoy the berries as they ripen in the summer months. Elderberry trees serve as habitat for native bees and the valley elderberry longhorn beetle, because of the spongy tissue of their twigs. This pithiness also makes the wood uniquely amenable to crafting cultural materials, like arrows and flutes. Tribal practices, like cultural burning, ensure longevity and health of elderberry bushes.

Indigenous plant names reflect the relationship that group has built with that plant. Some ask, why learn a lesser spoken language? Here is one of the many reasons to do so. Indigenous languages have grown around the environments their speakers lived in, and the needs, wants, and interests of those speakers. So being, they are laden with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). The vocabulary regarding elderberries, for every Indigenous language, expresses a unique worldview. When used, the line between generations of elderberry enthusiasts flows complete.

When and How to Pick

Blue elderberries will flower in the late spring. This is a good time to identify the
locations of your nearby trees, as they won’t stick out quite so much once the flowers
fall. Flower heads can be clipped and dried. Elderflowers have a “diaphoretic quality
which lowers fever (LaPena et al.).” “Fresh or dried, the flowers are steeped to make a
potent tea to reduce fever (Karuk Tribe et al.).” It is pertinent to remove all stems, as
only the flowers and berries can be consumed. Berries will ripen later in the summer.
Typically, they ripen earlier inland and later on the coast.

Works Cited

• Karuk Tribe. “Uxraah: Native Edible Berries.” G8L2NativeEdibleBerries_booklet, United States Department of Agriculture, nctcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/G8L2NativeEdibleBerries_booklet.pdf. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
• LaPena, Sage, et al. “Indigenous Perspectives on Elderberry Uses – California Elderberries.” University of California Agriculture and Nature Resources, University of California, ucanr.edu/sites/Elderberry/Indigenous/Indigenous_perspectives/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.
• Lowry, Judith Larner. “Blue Elderberry.” California Foraging, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2014, pp. 57–59.
• Unless otherwise noted, all photos were generously provided by Muriel Ammon.

Other Work

Ammon, Muriel. News from Native California. Picking Elderberries Like Squirrels. September 20, 2024

Civil construction of the Upper Conner Creek project has wrapped for 2024.   Despite the late start, crews from the Yurok Tribe Construction Corporation (YTCC), The Yurok Tribe Fisheries Dept and Hoopa Roads Dept completed the first phase of construction in just under two months.  Working exclusively on river left at river mile 78.3 in Junction City, the civil construction crews focused on lowering the 5.7 acre floodplain R1 and creating riffle IC-1. 

Before construction, the R1 floodplain was a largely star thistle strewn meadow, which did not fully inundate until flows reached 11,000 cubic feet per second.  The Hoopa Valley Tribe’s design team envisioned a lowered surface which targeted many inundation thresholds ranging from 500 to 3500 cubic feet per second.  In three weeks time, employing excavators, bulldozers, articulating trucks and front end loaders crews excavated 65,000 cubic yards of earth from the non-functional floodplain to a spoils site further inland.  The civil construction team added 300 plus pieces of large wood throughout the floodplain which enables the creation of habitat with a floodplain full of hydraulic diversity. 

Constructed of fish rock (5/8-5inches) and oversized sediment (5-12 inches) a riffle at the mouth of the new side channel was enhanced. The feature’s primary function is to add roughness to the river and raise the water surface elevation of the upstream waters to encourage wetting of the newly lowered floodplain on river left.  In compliance with the projects permits, the civil construction team monitored water quality during this period of turbidity generation.  

 

 

Eggs hatch into macroinvertebrates (tiny aquatic larvae) after about a week incubation period and then go through upwards of a dozen nymphic molts eating aquatic insects, small fish and even tadpoles as they grow. At the end of the transformational nymph stage, Anax junius, emerges from the water to undergo metamorphosis into a dragonfly from a crack in the exoskeleton.

Adults that migrate tend to arrive in the northern regions in the spring before any of the residents emerge. Migratory adults mate and lay eggs in June. The migratory dragonfly’s development stage is less than that of the resident variety (3-5 months versus the 11 months of the resident) and they do not overwinter as residents do.

Sources and Further Reading

• Green darner – Wikipedia
• Common Green Darner (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
• ADW: Anax junius: INFORMATION (animaldiversity.org)

Current conversations, media and our own experiences point to fire seasons that are far from ordinary. However, from dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) and other data sources, analysis find that prior to Euro-colonization, multiple millions of acres burned in on average in California. California’s ‘worst’ year in recent history saw about 4.5 million acres burned… which when comparing to historic averages would be within the ‘normal’ range (prior to Euro-colonization). In fact, tree ring scars show that many areas burned as frequently as every 5-10 years!  Within the past century, our society along with forest managers have promoted and practiced a prohibition on abundant low-intensity fire, allowing unburned materials to build up in forests and woodlands that along with population increase has set the stage for the complicated relationship now experienced with wildfire.

Most of us who have lived any length of time in the rural west are stressed about wildfire through the summer and well into the fall.   We endure smoke, dramatic headlines, helicopters flying over, evacuations, and too many of us witness damage to places we hold dear, including our own properties.  Forests that have not yet been touched by fire are heavily loaded with dead wood, leaves, and duff ready to become an inferno at any moment. Where fires have burned there is often a heavy load of grasses, frequently mixed with the woody remnants of trees from the last fire. Everywhere we go, organizations involved with fire share dramatic photos of conflagrations consuming tall trees.  And then we see flashfloods over fresh burns like with the McKinney Fire dumping sediments into rivers so thickly that it kills fish.  It seems we are smothered in news of devastation from wildfire!

But let’s step back for a little perspective.  Wildfire is nothing new to the west. Even before the first people set foot on these lands, our forests burned frequently from lightning strikes. These forests evolved with wildfires.  As tribes developed, their people lived with wildfires, found prosperity from them, and learned to manage the land by intentionally setting fires.

This maintained relatively open forests and woodlands, and kept mountain meadows functioning as wetlands to feed headwater streams. Natural wildfires tend to become more intense as they go upslope.  Look to the Trinity Alps where most mountain tops remain open and rocky.  Many peaks have sufficient soil among the rocks to support trees, and some scattered trees growing near the top of Thompson Peak demonstrate that the Trinities have no true elevational tree line.  But trees do grow slowly on those peaks and high intensity fires have historically happened often enough to keep those peaks mostly bare. 

From dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) and other data sources, most analysis suggest that prior to Euro-colonization, multiple millions of acres burned in on average in California. Our ‘worst’ year in recent history saw about 4.5 million acres burned… which would be within the ‘normal’ range prior to Euro-colonization. Tree ring scars show that many areas burned as frequently as every 5-10 years!  But we stopped that abundant low-intensity fire, allowing unburned materials to build up in forests and woodlands, setting the stage for the conflagrations we now see.

Frequent low intensity fires keep those fuels cleared out forests and woodlands.  It also helped keep them from getting too dense, promoting the growth of large older deep-rooted trees while minimizing the number of young upstarts that dry out the surface soils.  By keeping pines and firs out of oak woodlands, these fires promoted habitat for deer and other wildlife.  For these reasons, tribes managed the lands in California with fire.

So one of the big questions of our time is… how do we get back to healthy systems that function well (and safely) with fire?

References and Further Reading

• Asarian, E. 2024. Water temperatures in the Klamath-Trinity Basin: flow, other key drivers, and climate change implications. Presentation on 2024-05-01, Science Symposium of the Trinity River Restoration Program. Riverbend Sciences, Arcata, California. Available: https://www.trrp.net/library/document?id=2647.
• Salmonid Federation Restoration. Fire and Fish Workshop and Information
• Scott L. Stephens, Robert E. Martin, Nicholas E. Clinton, Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands. Forest Ecology and Management. Volume 251, Issue 3. 2007. Science Direct.com
• Trinity River Restoration Program Featured Article: Sediment and Summer Thunderstorms. The River Riffle, July 2023.
• Gruell, George E. Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests: A Photographic Interpretation of Ecological Change Since 1849. Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2001
• Fire in California’s Ecosystems. (2018). United States: University of California Press.

Common names: Grey pine (most common), ghost pine, foothill pine, Sabine pine, bull pine or grey leaf pine.

The grey pine is easily identifiable with pale grey-green needles that are sparse and a bit droopy. When looking from afar a grey pine is easily spotted by his smoky, wistful coloration. The structure of P. sabiniana tends to be a bit scrappy with its center trunk splitting sometimes several times, often bending every which way, versus holding a typical stature. Also easily identifiable are the seed cones which are among the largest produced by any pine species, when fresh weighing on average between 1-1.5 pounds. One particular source noted that, “The large, heavy cones resemble footballs covered with wooden spikes. It is best to avoid the pine groves on windy days.” [2] The cones tend to be full of sticky sap and are also home to a plethora of nutritious seeds enjoyed by many animal species, such as Steller’s jay, the scrub jay, grey squirrels and humans. The seeds have an impressive percentage of calories in the form of protein, fat and carbohydrates and provide several essential minerals to those who forage it [3].

John Muir, describes this tree in the first chapter of My First Summer in the Sierra: “June 4. … This day has been as hot and dusty as the first, leading over gently sloping brown hills, with mostly the same vegetation, excepting the strange-looking Sabine pine (Pinus sabiniana), which here forms small groves or is scattered among the blue oaks. The trunk divides at a height of fifteen or twenty feet into two or more stems, outleaning or nearly upright, with many straggling branches and long gray needles, casting but little shade. In general appearance this tree looks more like a palm than a pine. The cones are about six or seven inches long, about five in diameter, very heavy, and last long after they fall, so that the ground beneath the trees is covered with them. They make fine resiny, light-giving camp-fires, next to ears of Indian corn the most beautiful fuel I’ve ever seen.”[2]

The ethnobotanical uses of the grey pine are impressive with uses ranging from cultural to functional to nutritional. Although there are documented uses for all parts of the tree from sap to needle, primarily the seed gets the most attention. Seeds are noted to be gathered fresh, as well as roasted, boiled or pounded for porridge [5]. The hull of the seed is also used as a bead to decorate traditional dresses used for ceremony. Follow this link to read the lengthy, impressive list of all documented uses.

References & Further Reading

1. Wikipedia, Pinus sabiniana
2. Pinus sabiniana (gray pine) description – The Gymnosperm Database (conifers.org)
3. Pinus sabiniana (usda.gov)
4. The Sierra Club. John Muir Exhibit, My First Summer in the Sierra. Chapter 1
5. BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database

The Upper Conner Creek Rehabilitation Project is set to mobilize Phase 1 construction early next week. The site is located approximately one river mile downstream from the Dutch Creek Bridge in Junction City. After mobilization, phase 1 rehab will focus primarily on the upstream portion of the area and consists of lowering the riparian floodplain, adding riffle enhancements, placing large wood to slow water and create habitat and planting of riparian vegetation. Crews began mobilizing equipment and staging areas Monday.

The largest feature of this portion is the R1 floodplain.  This 5.7 acre broadly lowered surface and pilot channel on river left targets inundation at levels from 500 to 3,500 cfs.  Given that this reach of the Trinity’s average winter flow is 771 cfs, this feature should remain wetted for much of the fall winter and spring, providing low velocity salmonid refugia and opportunity for riparian recruitment.   

Supporting this floodplain/pilot channel feature, phase 1 will also see the construction of a riffle (IC-1 ) and the structured log jam (SLJ-1). The riffle (IC-1) is a 160ft long riffle that will raise the water surface elevation to encourage flows onto the new floodplain feature and has the added benefit of providing habitat for benthic macroinvertebrates, which are an important food source for salmonids.  In between the main stem Trinity and the new pilot channel is a placed log jam (SLJ-1) which primary purpose is to provide temporary protection to the pilot channel, until riparian vegetation has an opportunity to establish.  It is expected that this feature will eventually succumb to the forces of the river, but will provide low velocity salmonid refugia along the channel margins until then.  Once revegetation commences this fall, the construction area will receive a compliment of cottonwoods, mixed willows, and a variety of sedges and rushes.  The revegetation effort improves the aquatic habitat, helps prevent less desirable plants from taking hold, and generally speeds the healing of the river. 

Junction City residents should expect to see increased traffic and activity along Red Hill Rd in the vicinity of the Smith Pit.  Hours of operation on site are from 7am to 7pm, Monday thru Friday (with an allowance for Saturday if deemed necessary).  Civil construction and revegetation of phase 1 should be completed by years end.   

If you’d like to read more about the Upper Conner Creek Rehabilitation Project, please click here.