Whetstone Creek Restoration Plan - For Improved Fish Passage, Water Quality and Riparian Conditions August 30, 2012 Bear Creek Watershed Council Report prepared by Rogue Valley Council of Governments Natural Resources Department Whetstone Creek Fish Passage and Riparian Conditions Report Acknowledgements The Bear Creek Watershed Council and the Rogue Valley Council of Governments are grateful for the support and assistance of everyone who helped with this project – the stakeholder committee, landowners, businesses, agencies, non-governmental organizations and citizens. We greatly appreciate the funding support of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board through the Technical Assistance Grant Program. The Stakeholder Committee made it possible for us to gather the necessary information and perspectives to create an effective, implementable plan. Stakeholder Committee members included Dan VanDyke and Pete Samarin, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; Bill Leavens, L&S Rock Products; Tom Gruszczenski, Knife River Materials; Cindy Donegan and Jim Thrailkill, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nick Bakke and Carly Guillory, City of Medford; Brian Barr, Geos Institute; Jeff Griffin, the Governor’s Office; John Vial, Jackson County; Jerry Vogt and Paul Benton, Oregon Department of Transportation; Eric Overland and Frances Oyung, Bear Creek Watershed Council; and Maynard Flohaug with the Middle Rogue Steelheaders and Rogue Valley Sewer Services. We received valuable input from our team of advisors and other interested stakeholders including Jan and Craig Tompkins, local landowners; George Pelch, Amy’s Kitchen; Darren Borgias and Molly Morison, The Nature Conservancy; Jeff Payson, Eugene Wier and David Primozich, The Freshwater Trust; Mark Grenbemer, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board; Don Denman, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission; and Chuck Wheeler, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. We also want to thank the Geos Institute for producing maps for the final report; Vernon and Brian Gephard and the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District for information on grazing and agricultural best management practices; the Southern Oregon Historical Society for research assistance and historical photographs; Southern Oregon University for assistance with water quality monitoring; and Max Bennett, Oregon State University Cooperative Extension, Janine Castro, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Paul Kay for advice on reed canarygrass eradication and replacement. Rogue Valley Council of Governments 1 Whetstone Creek Fish Passage and Riparian Conditions Report Summary Whetstone Creek is a tributary of the Rogue River that flows through agricultural, industrial, and rural residential land, and drains the Whetstone Industrial Park and urbanized areas of White City before meeting the Rogue River at river mile 128.5. The creek, which drains a 13,400-acre (21 sq. miles) watershed, flows through ecologically valuable tracts of land such as the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) Denman Wildlife Management Area and the Agate Desert (Figure 1). The lower five miles of Whetstone Creek have been identified as a candidate for habitat restoration by ODFW and the Bear Creek Watershed Council. The creek is naturally intermittent; however, it conveys irrigation flows in the summer (making it “perennial” in its current state). Whetstone Creek, although currently suffering from degraded habitat and water quality conditions, has excellent restoration potential because of its relatively underdeveloped floodplain. Conditions and Problems Whetstone Creek and Swanson Creek, a tributary of Whetstone Creek, while accessible to anadromous salmonids, have limited fish passage and riparian habitat due to 1) past land use practices, 2) invasive plant species, 3) road crossings, and 4) channelization. 1) The presence of native riparian vegetation (such as alder, cottonwood, and mountain-ash) has been reduced or eliminated from several areas of the creek corridor, 2) Reed canarygrass (RCG) has invaded the corridor to an extent that the RCG has altered the channel and created passage obstacles for migrating native fish above the confluence of Whetstone Creek and Swanson Creek (approximately Whetstone Creek Mile 2.5) See Figure 2. 3) Culverts and road crossings on lower Whetstone Creek at Highbanks Road, Kirtland Road and the railroad trestle, and on Whetstone Creek and Swanson Creek at Table Rock Road have constrained the channels of Whetstone and Swanson Creeks from multi-thread “braided” channels to single channels. While these culverts and crossings are not absolute barriers to fish passage, they do not meet current passage standards, and although the single channels may help with fish passage during late spring, summer, and fall, the constrictions limit the ability of the creek to provide low velocity habitats for overwintering fishes, especially during high flow events after storms. Some of these road crossings are due for replacement, e.g., Table Rock Road is planned to be widened over the next several years. 4) Historically Whetstone Creek had a wide, multi-channel drainage pattern that has been channelized through much of the watershed. Rogue Valley Council of Governments 2 Whetstone Creek Fish Passage and Riparian Conditions Report Whetstone Creek, 1939 Lower Whetstone Creek, Rogue River and Lower Table Rock. Aerial Photograph, taken 1939 Whetstone Creek is in the center of a unique type of valley prairie – a large grave alluvial plain known as the Agate Desert. Government Land Office (GLO) surveys were conducted in the area in 1854-1855. An early brochure described the area as, “Near the center of the valley is a tract about six miles square called The Desert… It is covered with grass in the early spring, but otherwise is destitute of vegetation” (Anonymous 1885). GLO surveyors found mounded prairie interspersed with narrow scabland (swales, vernal pools) covering several thousand acres. The mounded prairie rests on a compacted gravel hardpan which creates a perched water table. This hardpan could explain the shallow, braided character of Whetstone Creek. Surveyors did note a few scattered white oak trees on this prairie, clumps of chaparral (Ceanothus), and riparian forest near the Rogue River. Rogue Valley Council of Governments 3 Whetstone Creek Fish Passage and Riparian Conditions Report Mt. McLoughlin Whetstone Creek View southeast from Lower Table Rock, circa 1885-1900. Peter Britt. SOHS #11516 Use by spawning fish was likely limited to summer steelhead in the intermittent conditions that were present in the Whetstone Creek watershed historically. According to ODFW, Whetstone is also used as winter habitat by juvenile steelhead and coho salmon. Juvenile spring Chinook are also likely to use the downstream reaches of Whetstone Creek in the winter. Fish sampling by ODFW found juvenile steelhead (3 individuals) below the confluence of Swanson Creek in August 2000 and Coho salmon (39) and steelhead (39) during March 2006. Sampling conducted in Whetstone Creek in 2010 above Table Rock Road by ODFW found no native salmonids (Personal communication, Dan Van Dyke, ODFW District Fish Biologist, 2010). Exotic fish species are also present, including gambusia, bluegill, and redside shiners. Whetstone Creek and Swanson Creek, a tributary of Whetstone Creek, while accessible to anadromous salmonids, have limited fish passage and riparian habitat due to: 1) The elimination or reduction of native riparian vegetation (such as alder, cottonwood, and mountain-ash) from much of the creek corridor. 2) Reed canarygrass (RCG) has invaded the corridor to an extent that the RCG has altered the channel and created passage obstacles for migrating native fish above Rogue Valley Council of Governments 4 Whetstone Creek Fish Passage and Riparian Conditions Report the confluence of Whetstone Creek and Swanson Creek at approximately Whetstone Creek Mile 2.5. 3) Use by spawning fish was likely limited to summer steelhead in the intermittent conditions that were present in Whetstone Creek historically. Whetstone is also used as winter habitat by juvenile steelhead and coho salmon. Exotic fish species are present, including gambusia, bluegill, and redside shiners. 4) Culverts and road crossings on lower Whetstone Creek, at Table Rock Road and on Swanson Creek have constrained the channel of Whetstone Creek and Swanson Creek. While these culverts and crossings are not absolute barriers to fish passage, they do not meet current passage standards. Some of these road crossings are due for replacement as Table Rock Road is planned to be widened over the next several years. Watershed Characteristics Whetstone Creek from the mouth to Whetstone Pond on the Denman Wildlife Management Area (Figure 2) is comprised of four distinct reaches described below. The creek continues upstream past Denman all the way to the north side of Roxy Ann Peak, and contains approximately 30 miles of stream channels, including tributaries. This assessment primarily addresses only the lower five miles of the creek. Reach 1 – mouth to Highbanks Road: • Approximately 4,900 feet long. • Lower Whetstone Creek (Reach 1) is characterized by runs, riffles, glides, and pools with areas of intact, healthy riparian vegetation, but high potential for restoration in the majority of the reach. • Pools near the mouth in the lower 1,000 feet of the creek are created by large instream wood. • The next section of the reach upstream of the lowest 1,000 feet, which is approximately 1,900 feet long, lies within dikes on