STREAM RESTORATION PROJECT Improves Kane Creek Fish Habitat
Heavy equipment and dump trucks typically aren’t the machinery that comes to mind when you think of fish habitat restoration but at Kane Creek, a Rogue River tributary near Gold Hill, these resources and more are clearing obstacles for the upstream migration of steelhead and other species. ODOT maintenance crews began work in August with a federal investment of $2 million specifically allocated for fish habitat restoration, the first of two projects in the area. The stream restoration project targets a 75-yard run downstream from a box culvert beneath Lampman Road, which runs parallel to Interstate 5. Kane Creek once provided miles of fish-spawning habitat. Despite including a fish ladder, the old box culvert’s four-foot drop at the outlet remained an impediment to migrating fish most of the year. Designed to install roughly 600 yards of well-placed rocks (large boulders to fine pebbles) as well as large root wads that mimic natural stream conditions, the current project reconstructed the channel by allowing
fish to migrate to the upper reaches of the stream. “This restoration project gives fish more opportunities to reach the upper portions of Kane Creek,” said Jerry Vogt, regional environmental coordinator for ODOT. “Until now, fish were limited to a few high-water events to move upstream.” Donning hip waders and an electroshock backpack, Vogt and other ODOT staff “shocked” steelhead, salamanders and ‘muddlers’ — a finny family of fish that includes the prickly sculpin and the riffle sculpin — gently netting each one to move them downstream unharmed. “Stunned fish are guided into the nets,” Vogt said. “Most of the time, fish drifted into the net without help.” A pump and hose were used to dewater the creek. The water was moved downstream through a 250-foot pipe to allow work in the channel. According to Vogt, while the project didn’t realign the stream channel it made it more hospitable for migrating fish.
odotmovingahead.com
September 28, 2012
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