Project Details

Meadow Creek has been severely impacted by flash flooding and trespass cattle issues, with much/most of the habitat damage and degradation occurring before UDWR purchased the property. Over the past several years, most trespass cattle issues have been dealt with. But in response of these stressors, the stream has cut below its surrounding floodplain, begun to erode on cut banks, decreased in sinuosity, headcuts created (impeding fish passage), decreased water table/riparian water transfer, and habitat types have simplified (fewer deep pools/runs) as sediment accumulated. Original project proposal was to begin stream rehabilitation at the upstream end, accomplishing what could be completed with FY2015 funds. Majority of 2015 funds have been spent securing stream alteration permits. This proposal will be for a downsized portion of stream to a more manageable length (1 mile of corridor) with minimal instream effect (dredge/discharge) while promoting natural stream healing. Within the 1 mile of corridor, we plan to mitigate 4 cut banks with heavy equipment, install rock riffles in order more water is held back while keeping grade, install fish hotels (as they have been successful at Lake Canyon Ck and Crouse Creek), install beaver dam analogues, installing spawning riffles for CRCT, and plant riparian herbaceous and woody vegetation. Vegetation will likely need to be planted after stream restoration and enhancement activities are completed (some into separate project proposal in FY2018). Gravel will have to be transported to site; boulders and larger rocks for riffles will mostly be utilized from onsite materials. Logs for fish hotels will mostly come from the greater area around project; some may be purchased. Heavy equipment will have to be rented and transported to site. This proposal will include seasonal technician personnel services time to assist biologist with implementation. Some trees (willows) will come from on site dispesral (FY 2018); other herbaceous and woody vegetation will be purchased (FY2018). Honeycomb material will be brought onsite to mitigate/enhance minor stream crossing used by DWR crews to access remote parts of Willow Creek WMA. Long term outlook for project will be to establish enough vegetation that beaver utilize this area, which should allow the stream channel to build itself back to the floodplain. With increased water residency and reconnection with floodplain habitats from beaver dams, not only will resident fish (mountain suckers, speckled dace, and CRCT) have more habitat, but the improved riparian condition will enhance grazing for big game species, including mule deer, elk, and bison. If successful, this project will reap permanent benefits for fish and wildlife on this property, reversing decades of cattle damage.

Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.

Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.

LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.

TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.

List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.

If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.

Short-term goals of this project are 1. to enhance water quality by promoting sediment deposition in key areas in order to slowly rebuild channel height with reference to surrounding floodplain and 2. enhance water and riparian quality by mitigating, vegetating, and otherwise working to eliminate detrimental streambank erosion in this stream.

Water quantity will not be impacted until long-term visions of this project are fulfilled, which include beaver colonization and impacts of beaver dams. Research has indicated that beaver dams can increase the quantity of desirable water by allowing greater percolation into water tables, where it remains available to maintain the stream during dry periods; without this, the stream is more susceptible to running dry. In some cases, beaver dams have been a likely surrogate in absence of significant snowpack, holding water at higher elevations longer. In the case of Meadow Creek, the Tavaputs plateau receives significant flash flood events. Beaver dams would allow the system to retain this water in a healthy manner.

Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.

Area has already been cleared by State Archeologist.
Attached is a copy of the state-only Stream Alteration 404 permit from Utah Division of Water Rights, already issued for this project. I will modify the permit and refile with Division of Water Rights to extend the permit expiration date, and downscale in-stream impacts to reflect what we see as better suited for this system in long term than original plans documented in FY2015 request. This will appease US Army Corps of Engineers concerns to where a Joint State-Federal 404 permit will be issued. If this still does not suffice for USACE, we have already completed Wetland Delineation work (which is great data for monitoring wetland capacity of this system to compare long-term), and Archeological clearance.  All that would remain to submit a Federal USACE Nationwide Permit 27 (NWP27) for stream and wetland restoration/enhancement activities is documentation on how this may affect endangered species, aquatic and terrestrial. No NEPA is required since all work will be conducted on UDWR lands.

Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.

1. Monitor cattle in case of ability to further exclude cattle from this WMA during habitat treatment. 
2. Restore Meadow Creek stream channel by adding gravel where deemed appropriate for spawning bars, large boulders where deemed appropriate to create riffles, beaver dam analogues where appropriate to build water table further up and create pool habitat
3. Repair cutbanks along Meadow Creek using heavy equipment to scale angle of bank back to where it can be vegetated and no longer erode into the stream
4. plant herbaceous vegetation where deemed appropriate, especially in erosion problem areas. 
5. kill all tamarisk within corridor (Tordon), which has slowly begun to invade up Meadow Creek
6. install honeycomb structure at stream crossing to prevent further channel erosion
6. Create another proposal (FY2018) in the near future to begin establishing woody vegetation; some will include willow cuttings from close to the Willow Creek confluence; other desirable vegetation, such as buffaloberry, currant, and box elder, may be purchased, brought on site, and planted.
7. Long term: once we deem the area can handle losing occasional trees, we intend to restore a beaver population on this stream.

Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.

1. Monitor trespass cattle situation. Mitigate if forced. Eliminate cattle issues through increased vigilance/DWR presence at WMA, and  fencing/exclusion possibilities if there are areas where cattle continue to get in. DWR personnel will check on this site for cattle intrusion weekly from May-September.
2. monitor fish use of gravel bars, enhanced riffles. This will be completed by walking affected sections of stream in late-May for minimum of three years to observe spawning redds within gravel (spawning redd walks commonly used for noting salmonid reproduction activities); since this will be a relatively small section of stream, this will be a complete sample. Number of redds per year will be recorded and compared. Enhanced pools created by riffles/gravel additions will be monitored for fish use through standard electrofishing surveys/population estimates of affected reach; compared to data we already have collected and will continue to collect to compare pre-vs post- enhancement. Per our NER aquatics stream sampling plan, habitat enhanced streams should be monitored once per year for 3-4 years before project beginning, during project, and at least 4 years after project completion to ensure success, or at least that no damage was done.
3. observe cutbank areas annually; if erosion continues, explore other options to mitigate or eliminate issue.
4. monitor herbaceous vegetation survival/germination. This monitoring will consist of a single walk through of all affected areas in October of the following 4 years (occurring jointly with fish survey), noting areas where vegetation has failed to establish or survive. If germination is poor for multiple years (2+), we plan to set up a plot subsampling system where we may investigate reasons for poor survival or growth; further actions would depend on nature of failures. If certain species are doing well while others are doing poor, we may investigate potential of other plant species not previously considered, or optimizing conditions such that better survival is encouraged.
We will continue planting areas that do not take root in order forage base and ground stabilization is established.
5. monitor tree survival, growth. If desirable plants do not succeed, continue plantings. Observe if certain species are more successful than others (besides tamarisk), and promote healthy growth. This monitoring will consist of a single walk-through of all planted trees in July for 3 years following treatment to ensure survival, growth. Site will be visited at least once every 5 years to determine if tree growth and eventual reproduction successful.
6. sometimes a beaver introduction is not successful. Observe if introduced population is surviving and acting on stream. If survival is not detectable, try multiple reintroductions
7. bi-annually observe if stream is eroding through, under, or around honeycomb stream crossing structure. If so, address erosion issue.
8. Habitat use by terrestrial wildlife may be studied by Wildlife Biologist staff members, but we will not directly investigate pre- vs post- restoration use. The primary purpose of this project is to create an optimal aquatic environment for fish species, namely Colorado River cutthroat trout. However, we expect many benefits from this project to an entire suite of species, including big game, especially in terms of forage. From our project standpoint, we consider successful vegetative plantings and enhancement, as well as raising water tables and channel water storage capacity to be the surrogate for positive terrestrial wildlife value. 
9. let the water do the rest of your work for you

Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.

List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.

Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.

Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.