Tag Archives: Update – Jan 2024

Program Update: Implementation Branch

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With winter fully here and the holidays behind us, the Implementation Branch is moving forward with some exciting restoration proposals.  In recent past the TRRP publicly scoped two proposed channel rehabilitation projects, the Upper Conner Creek Rehabilitation Project in Junction City and the Sawmill Gravel Processing Site Project in Lewiston. A draft environmental assessment (EA) will be released in the coming weeks, and then the Implementation Branch and those involved in the project will host a public meeting to discuss the proposed designs and restoration activities. Keep an eye on our calendar or our facebook page for notification of that meeting. We hope to see you there.

Photos of the two proposed channel rehabilitation sites currently under Environmental Assessment, Upper Conner Creek (left) and Sawmill Gravel Processing Rehabilitation (right).

Proposed Upper Conner Creek rehabilitation project

The proposed Upper Conner Creek project designs were prepared by the Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Department and McBain Associates.  Long term assessment of past restoration work nearby and adaptive management have led program partners to determine that the lowered surfaces of these early projects were not inundating (providing low floodplain habitat) frequently enough.  Improvements in floodplain connectivity to the mainstem, as well as course sediment additions and large wood features will open opportunities for the river to rework its form to provide long-term channel complexity and high-quality salmon habitat.  The recreational aspect of this area is appreciated by many and was an important feature to consider for this project. Through consultation with local residents and river users, project designers have worked to maintain the Junction City Campground’s river access for boating and swimming.  The proposed Upper Conner Creek Project first phase of restoration will begin in the spring of 2024.

Aerial shot of the proposed Upper Conner Creek rehabilitation site [Kenneth DeCamp]
Aerial image of the proposed Sawmill Gravel Processing site. [Ken DeCamp]

Proposed Sawmill Gravel Processing Site Rehabilitation Project

The proposed Sawmill Gravel Processing Site Rehabilitation Project, prepared by the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department, the California Department of Water Resources, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, seek to decommission a portion of a long-used sediment processing site and do so in an ecologically beneficial way.  The proposed project also intends to address a floodplain breach on river right that has dewatered a side channel complex. Repairing this breach will allow adult salmon to spawn throughout the side channel as they have historically. 

Sediment and Wood Augmentation Environmental Assessment

Also working its way through the environmental compliance pathway is the TRRP’s Sediment and Wood Augmentation EA. The EA seeks to establish four new augmentation sites and allows for wood placement at the five existing sites in addition to sediment augmentation to address the sediment and wood deficiency upstream of Indian Creek.  The new augmentation sites are also located in the upper river near Lewiston and include Dark Gulch, Trinity House Gulch, Steel Bridge, and Vitzthum Gulch.  The wood component of the analysis is an exciting addition to the EA.  Wood is critical to a dynamic river system as its benefits include creating fish cover, adding hydraulic complexity, connecting the main river with important fish feeding grounds called floodplains, retaining sediment and aiding a variety of river species by creating more robust habitat. The EA wrapped up its public comment period on November 22 and the public draft is available on TRRP.net. 

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A rehabilitated side channel and large wood placement at the 2021 Chapman Ranch Rehabilitation site saw adult salmon building redds this past fall. [Todd Buxton, TRRP/Reclamation]

Trinity River Watershed Restoration Programmatic Environmental Assessment

Restoring the lands that surround the Trinity River is an important part of system restoration. [Trinity County Resource Conservation District]

Finally, the TRRP’s Trinity River Watershed Restoration Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) is on track to be completed in 2024. The PEA focuses on improving the quality and quantity of accessible cold-water aquatic habitat throughout the lands which flow to the Trinity River. A goal of the PEA is to encourage more stream and riparian habitat restoration projects by providing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) coverage to organizations who propose areas in need of restoration.  

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Program Update: Environmental Flows

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Since the foundational 1999 Trinity River Flow Evaluation Report, decades of scientific research have poured into improving outcomes for Salmonids, both from within the Trinity River Basin and from rivers researched across the world. The cumulation of data has made scientists within the Program increasingly aware that shifting how the Program uses restoration flow allocation has the potential to lead to stronger and more resilient juvenile salmonids.

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Survey crews monitoring the interaction between high flows and recently restored floodplain on the Trinity River in April of 2023.

Restoration releases continuing through late spring and into the summer keep water colder than optimal for juvenile salmon growth. With size of outmigrating salmon strongly tied to their survival in the ocean, the correlating smaller sized salmon has led scientists to question if a change in management actions would benefit juvenile salmon. Further, Program scientists have figured out that greater than 60% of young chinook salmon have already left the restoration reach by the time spring restoration releases start to interact with restored habitat created by the Program over the last 18 years. River restorationists believe that if floodplains and side channels can get wet when more juvenile salmon are in the upper river to use them, then they can take advantage of all the extra food that those habitats create and if the water meets a range of ideal temperatures for these cold-blooded creatures, they will grow faster.

A partial implementation of an initial proposal to shift a portion of the annual restoration flow allocation earlier in the year occurred in the winter/spring of Water Year 2023 (partial because only elevated baseflows were implemented. The synchronized pulse flow component was not implemented); in September 2023, Program scientists proposed the same action for Water Year 2024 to the Trinity Management Council indicating to the Council that the proposal was the best available science in improving results for salmonids. Unfortunately, the TMC requires near unanimous votes to approve actions and failed to approve that proposal, with six votes in favor and two opposed. However, all was not lost. A group including Trinity County brought in a retired USFWS biologist to review the proposal and findings from the Water Year 2023 and offered to work with program scientists to craft a proposal that was perceived to be less problematic for late winter/early spring river-based recreation and its associated economic benefits. Parties worked together busily behind the scenes, and the revised winter flow proposal will be presented to the TMC at a special meeting on Jan. 18. If approved, modestly increased winter base flows would begin in February.

Return to the January Newsletter