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| Red Clover/McReynolds Creek |
Plumas County, California |
Primary Project Type: Instream Restoration
Secondary Type: Riparian Restoration |
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Prior to 1950s, the upper portion of Red Clover Creek and McReynolds Creek, were... |
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Primary Problem: Channel Incision, Headcutting
Secondary Problem: Overgrazing, Timber Harvest |
| Main Restoration Action(s): Floodplain reconnection, Pond and plug, Redirect flow into remnant channel, Riparian revegetation |
| Native Fish Focus: N/A |
Is this project part of a watershed scale restoration? Yes
Click here for the description. |
| Project Dates: 6/95 to 8/95 |
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Initial Monitoring: 1994
Restoration Implementation: June 1995 to August 1995
Follow-up Monitoring: 1995 - 2004 |
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Lead Agency:
Feather Coordinated Resource Management (FRCRM) group
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| Project Location:
The Red Clover/McReynolds Creek Restoration Project is located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada crest in Red Clover Valley, approximately 60 miles north of Truckee and 30 miles southeast of Quincy in Plumas County. Red Clover Valley is 13 miles long and up to two miles wide and has a drainage area of 75 square miles. The McReynolds Creek portion of the project extends north from its confluence with Red Clover Creek approximately 5,000 linear feet upstream. The cumulative watershed area is 82 square miles from the confluence of the two creeks.
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| Project Description:
Prior to 1950’s, the upper portion of Red Clover Creek and McReynolds Creek, which flows through the project area, was reported as a low gradient, narrow channel with a well-developed riparian zone comprising hardwoods, sedges, and willows that protected the streambanks. The stream also had a reputation as an outstanding trout fishery. Continuing disturbance over time, particularly by roads, logging railroad grades and heavy livestock grazing, weakened and removed riparian vegetation. These impacts initiated channel downcutting deeply into the fine substrate. By 1985, the actively eroding channel was 50 to 60 feet wide in places with vertical cut banks up to 10 feet high, and floodflows no longer accessed the naturally-evolved floodplain system. In addition, the erosion contributed large amounts of sediment to the North Fork Feather River system via Indian Creek. Water flow was confined, providing little cover for fish and no flood flow to recharge the adjacent meadow aquifer. The lowered water table in the meadows adjacent to the streambank converted the once-productive wet meadows to a dry sagebrush-dominated basin and provided minimal baseflow during the late summer months. |
| Project Goals: The objective of the Red Clover/McReynolds Creek restoration project was to increase summer base flows for priority species and beneficial uses, improve water quality, decrease magnitude of floods, waterfowl and wetland enhancement, monitor and quantify benefits, educate the public, and provide technology transfer. This is the second project of this type to be funded by CalFed in the upper Feather River watershed. CalFed is a state-federal partnership formed to solve water quality/quantity issues in Califonia’s Bay-Delta area. This project is the first of several phases planned to restore the entire valley over the next 5-7 years. |
| Project Methods:
The project design was proposed and refined by a Technical Advisory Committee to ensure technical integrity and feasibility. The project encompassed channel/meadow restoration using the pond and plug technique, which included elimination of the creek's old incised gully and diverting the creek into a remnant channel on the meadow floor above. The existing gully was eliminated by filling the old incised channel with fill generated by excavating adjacent portions of the gully wider and deeper. These borrow areas become a groundwater-filled series of ponds to create wildlife habitat. To assure restoration of riparian and wet meadow vegetation adjacent the creek, a grazing management program was initiated in the riparian and uplands of the watershed.
For more information on project methods, click here.
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Prior to 1950s, the upper portion of Red Clover Creek and McReynolds Creek, were... |
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Continuing disturbance over time, particularly by roads, logging railroad grades... |
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| Monitoring Data and Collection
Methods: It is expected that the Red Clover/McReynolds Creek project will benefit a myriad of resources by restoring the ecological function of the meadow system (i.e. as a properly functioning floodplain). The FR-CRM is committed to long term monitoring of the Red Clover/McReynolds Creek project area. Due to minimal funding for long-term monitoring of the project, monitoring was designed to be low-cost and simple, yet provide usable information.
For more information on project monitoring, click here.
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Was this project effective
and how was this determined? The McReynolds Creek/Red Clover Creek restoration project is one of over 20 completed projects within the Feather River watershed specifically designed to re-water degraded meadow/surface water systems which had converted to a sagebrush-dominated basin with minimal baseflow during the late summer months. Approximately 5,000 feet of McReynolds Creek and 11,250 feet of Red Clover Creek’s eroded gully channels were restored by the pond and plug technique, with a total of 59 ponded water areas and 66 plugs were placed on the main or finger gullies. By constructing the ponds in a variety of shapes and depths, habitat for fish and wildlife was maximized.
The pond and plug technique was used for the first time in the 3,222 square-mile Feather River watershed on the Big Flat meadow in 1995. Since then, over 18 miles of severely degraded stream channel and 3,000 acres of meadow/floodplain have been restored within the watershed using this technique, which is now a primary tool in restoring the historically rich ecosystem of the watershed. Re-watering the expansive meadow and riparian habitats of tributaries to the Feather River has created a diversity of habitat for fish and wildlife, and has provided clear, cold water, and extended/elevated summer flows downstream in the northern Sierra Nevada. Project managers have since mentored other restoration professionals to the north and south of the Sierra Nevada range to implement this innovative technique in their area.
After 20 years of reach-scale restoration efforts in the Feather River watershed, the Feather River CRM group is now focusing on larger, landscape restoration approaches using the pond and plug technique along with grazing management planning. The McReynolds Creek/Red Clover Creek restoration project is one of the first to take such an approach. For more information on the Feather River CRM group, click here. Pond and plug projects have been monitored in a variety of intensities throughout the watershed, depending on the resources and interest. To read a report summarizing results of those monitoring efforts and their implication in the success of this technique, click here.
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| Confounding Effects/Additional
Information: |
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Specs (all specs are estimates): |
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Man Hours:
Project development (2 years); Construction (104 working days)
Cost of Materials:
Rock ($55,000)
Subcontracted Costs:
Environmental Surveys- $82,000; Construction/fencing ($750,000)
Overall Estimated Cost:
Overall Estimated Cost: $1,230,000
Landowner Contribution:
Cash: Landowner, agencies, volunteers ($100,000) In-kind: |
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| For more information on this project
contact: |
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Jim Wilcox, Plumas Corp., , Email: jim@plumascounty.org
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| This information
was collected by: Kristin Keith |
| Project last updated on: 7/30/2007 |
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