 |
| Omak Creek |
Okanogan County, Washington |
Primary Project Type: Instream Restoration
Secondary Type: Fish Passage |
 |
| |
After a 1998 spring flood event, Omak Creek near the log mill was relocated from... |
|
|
 |
Primary Problem: Channel Alteration, Sedimentation
Secondary Problem: Natural Fish Passage Barriers, Road Culvert |
| Main Restoration Action(s): Watershed restoration |
| Native Fish Focus: Steelhead |
Is this project part of a watershed scale restoration? Yes
|
| Project Dates: 1997 to ongoing |
| |
Initial Monitoring: 1992
Restoration Implementation:
Follow-up Monitoring: ongoing |
|
Lead Agency:
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
|
| Project Partners: |
|
| Project Location:
Omak Creek is located in Okanogan County in North Central Washington. It is approximately 22 miles ending at its confluence with the Okanogan River. It runs entirely within the reservation of the Colville Confederated Tribes. Land use in the Omak Creek watershed is 75 percent forest and 21 percent rangeland.
Click here for a map of the project location.
|
| |
Project Description:
The following case history is based on information and text taken from the 2004 Annual Report to the Bonneville Power Administration, "Improvement of Anadromous Fish Habitat and Passage in Omak Creek" by Christopher J. Fisher of the Colville Confederated Tribes, and the August 2004 report “Steelhead Surveys in Omak Creek” by Christopher J. Fisher and John Arterburn of the Colville Confederated Tribes.
Salmon and steelhead fishing has historically been an important use of Omak Creek by the twelve Colville Confederated Tribal (CCT) Bands. Currently, Omak Creek is inhabited by a scant population of summer steelhead, listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1992 personnel of the CCT-Fish and Wildlife Department surveyed Omak Creek. The collected information estimated and described the physical condition of in-stream habitat from the confluence of the Okanogan River upstream 12.2 miles. Survey results indicated the spawning habitat was in marginal condition, with most of the reaches being embedded. This condition occurs when silt and other fine sediments fill the gaps between rocks on the stream bottom, reducing the amount of productive habitat for aquatic insects. Canopy closure exceeded 50 percent at only one of the four reaches surveyed.
In 1995, the Colville Tribes assisted Natural Resources Conservation Service personnel in conducting surveys within the Omak Creek watershed and the upper sub-watersheds of Stapaloop Creek and Trail Creek, evaluating resource problem areas impacting surface water and fish habitat. Resource problems identified were:
- Instream barriers to anadromous fish
- Declining rangeland, riparian, and vegetative conditions
- Excessive runoff and sediment from roads
- Degraded stream corridor and channel condition
- High fecal coliform levels in surface water
- High stream temperature, low dissolved oxygen
|
Project Goals: Spawning and rearing habitat for summer steelhead is limited in the Okanogan River Basin within the state of Washington, primarily due to irrigation diversions or water withdrawals from tributaries. Omak Creek is a unique tributary to the Okanogan River because it is located entirely within the Colville Indian Reservation and offers uninterrupted flows. For this reason Omak Creek has been a priority in the recovery efforts for summer steelhead within the Okanogan River basin. The following objectives were identified for restoration of steelhead in Omak Creek:
- Reestablish summer steelhead habitat by reduction of land use impacts;
- Monitor a variety of physical habitat parameters; and
- Monitor summer steelhead recovery.
|
| Project Methods:
Habitat rehabilitation efforts directed towards recovering summer steelhead in Omak Creek originated in 1997 and continue to be pursued with promising results. Actions have addressed numerous problems in the watershed and have included road decommissioning, riparian vegetation planting, removal of fish passage barriers, channel restoration, and construction of fences to reduce impacts caused by livestock.
Click here for more details on restoration methods.
|
 |
| |
Construction phase of Omak Creek at the mill site: in 2002, the Colville tribes... |
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
Boulders were removed from Mission Falls channel using a crane.... |
|
|
|
|
| Monitoring Data and Collection
Methods: To assess the success of habitat improvements, particularly channel reconfiguration (RM 0.5 to 1.0) and improved bank stability (RM 2.9 to RM 4.6) in Omak Creek, adult steelhead enumeration, redd, and canopy closure surveys were conducted during the spring of 2004. This information will provide a baseline to assess the increased production of steelhead associated with improved fish passage conditions at Mission Falls and with habitat improvements. Adult enumeration was conducted from March 10 to April 30, 2004 using a picket-weir trap located at approximately RM 0.1 of Omak Creek. Redd surveys were conducted in two reaches - RM 0.5 to 1.0, where an old logging mill exists, and RM 2.9 to RM 4.6 where in-stream bank stability structures were installed. Canopy closure was estimated by walking the stream from river mile 2.9 to 4.6 and using a convex densitometer.
Click here for more information on monitoring efforts on Omak Creek.
|
Was this project effective
and how was this determined? Even under extreme environmental conditions (drought, wildfire, low canopy cover, high water temperature) stream rehabilitation projects along Omak Creek are producing results. Redd surveys during the past three years indicate that passage and spawning of returning steelhead is occurring. Since 2000, canopy cover has increased more than fourfold in the upper reach of Omak Creek. The increase in canopy should reduce water temperatures in the lower reach. However, as long as drought continues, low flow and high water temperatures will be a major concern. In addition, beaver activity has increased, reducing the influence of canopy by creating beaver ponds and widening the active channel.
Currently, the spawning habitat appears to be under-utilized in Omak Creek, even in previous years when returns were estimated to be substantially greater. It is expected that through the development of a locally-adapted broodstock, juvenile production and survival will increase and result in more adults returning and utilizing more of the available spawning habitat.
Habitat recovery is a slow process. Although "unpredictable" factors have attenuated recovery, preliminary results indicate that habitat conditions are improving and associated responses by endangered summer steelhead in Omak Creek are underway.
|
 |
| |
(Before) Omak Creek before restoration.... |
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
(After) Omak Creek after restoration. In 2001, 17 sites on Omak Creek were stab... |
|
|
|
|
Confounding Effects/Additional
Information: In August 2001, a wild land fire burned 8,112 acres (approximately 9 percent) of the Omak Creek watershed. Fire suppression activities during this fire resulted in an inadvertent aerial drop of fire retardant, which completely killed fish from RM 8.0 to 2.9 and partially killed fish from RM 2.9 to the mouth. On July 20, 2003 a wildfire occurred near Mission Falls, burning 459 acres. Fire suppression activities during this fire resulted in an inadvertent aerial drop of fire retardant at RM 5.5. A complete investigation of fish killed identified approximately 9,053 juveniles, with a complete fish kill in the lower section of Omak Creek (RM 0-1.0) and a partial kill upstream.
On July 25, 2004, the lower reach (approximately 1.0 mile) of Omak Creek became dry due to three consecutive poor water years and abnormally low snow pack (62 percant of normal). Stream flow existed upstream of a beaver dam; however, flow was not observed running over the dam. On August 4, 2004, dead juvenile steelhead were observed in isolated pools immediately downstream of the beaver dam. Consequently, due to these extreme environmental conditions, steelhead production in the surveyed lower reach was eliminated and survival in the watered reaches upstream may have been poor.
To offset these large losses of production while transitioning to a locally-adapted broodstock, steelhead smolts originating from the Wells Hatchery complex continue to be outplanted in Omak Creek. In the spring of 2004, 9,855 steelhead smolts were released into Omak Creek from the Wells Hatchery complex. In addition 3,450 locally-adapted steelhead smolts were released from the Cassimar Bar Hatchery. All of the locally-adapted steelhead and 60 percent of steelhead smolts from the Wells Hatchery complex were tagged with Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT) to monitor survival throughout the life history of both groups of fish. |
| Project
Specs (all specs are estimates): |
|
|
| For more information on this project
contact: |
| |
Chris Fisher, Colville Confederated Tribes, Email: chris.fisher@colvilletribes.com
|
| This information
was collected by: Kristin Keith |
| Project last updated on: 4/7/2007 |
|
 |
|
