Project Details

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.

1. Add Large Woody Debris to perennial stream reaches to create sediment deposition areas both within the active channel and to deflect debris flow onto the floodplain.  Two different techniques are expected to be implemented.  Post Assisted Log Structures (PALS) (50-60)will predominately be utilized in the Diamond Fork drainage and Directional Tree Felling (DTF) (40-50) will be implemented in the Nebo Creek drainage.
2.  Install 15-20 boulder clusters consisting of 2-3 large diameter boulders (1500-2000 lbs each) to areas of low habitat complexity to enhance fisheries habitat.  Structures may be used in conjunction with DTF/PALS.  Diamond Fork River.  
3.  Install 10-15 rock vanes and/or J-hooks to redirect the thalweg away from vulnerable banks, reduce near shore stress, and enhance habitat complexity.  The majority of structures will be installed in the Nebo Creek Drainage.
4.  Take high resolution (before/after) aerial imagery via drone to track changes in channel/habitat.  UDWR (Shane Hill) is currently building a model to monitor changes in utilizing the colors and reflections on the water's surface in the imagery to identify and delineate pools, runs, woody debris, and riffles (similar to the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP, 2016).
The effectiveness of this model currently unknown (still in testing mode) but at the very least the aerial footage will allow us to visually track significant changes in the channel.  If the model proves to be effective, we will return to fly the reach annually for 2-3 years after restoration and then move to a 2-3 year interval or as needed.  
5.  Establish ground level photopoint monitoring sites, monitor every 6-12 months (Winter 2018-Winter 2022)).
6.  Seed any riparian areas disturbed by installation of PALS, DTF, or rock clusters.
7.  Obtain NEPA/EA from Forest Service (Spring 2021) and Arch. Clearance from FS or UDWR.  
8.  Stream Alteration Permit (Spring 2021).

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.

Burned watersheds are vulnerable to intense pulses of high duration and short intensity discharge events triggered by spring runoff and/or monsoonal rains.  Burned watersheds have lost the roughness and vegetative cover needed to retain topsoil and have often become hydrophobic.  Such conditions contribute to high volume runoff (discharge) events that are saturated with sediment and can cause cause significant channel downcutting and movement of sediment downstream.  Approximately 77% of the 34,278 acre Nebo Creek watershed was burned during the Bald Mountain and Pole Creek fire of 2018.  Preliminary estimates by NRCS suggest nearly 700 acre feet of sediment will be mobilized over the next 5 years.  Sediment plumes in the fall of 2018 have already caused fish kills that have extirpated the trout population within the drainage.  Downcutting of streams can cause significant damage to the aquatic and riparian community by decreasing its connectivity with the floodplain and leading to the decline of floodplain dependent species.  Loss of floodplain connectivity reduces floodplain attenuation of sediments which increases sediment loading within the channel, which subsequently increases downstream sedimentation.  Lowering of the water table also is a common symptom of loss of floodplain connectivity as groundwater recharge is reduced.  Lowering of the watertable can cause a riparian community once composed of obligate wetland species (sedge, willows, cottonwoods, etc) to convert to a xeric community.

Historic/current hydrological conditions within the Diamond Fork drainage are not advantageous for timely natural recolonization of cottonwoods within the riparian corridor.  Historic/current management has modified flooding regimes necessary for reliable recruitment of native cottonwoods within Diamond Fork and at many other locations throughout the West.  Pre-fire many cottonwood stands within the drainage were dominated by a disproportionately high percentage of decadent cottonwoods (i.e. little regeneration/recruitment).  Restoration of the fire impacted cottonwood gallery forest would improve biotic community stability (multiple age-class cottonwood structure for next 100-150 years), river fisheries (water temperature regime), wildlife use (resident, migrant, seasonal), and aesthetics (wilderness values).  Cottonwoods are not a highly fire-resistant species and we fear even moderate fire intensities within the riparian community may have killed the majority of the trees (i.e. we don't anticipate a lot of natural regrowth).  Conditions for a successful natural recruitment event (timing/intensity of flooding, adequate precipitation for seedling establlishment, etc) may not occur for several years (if ever).  Planting of rooted cuttings will help re-establish groves several years sooner than if left to natural recruitment and help prevent domination of woody invasive plants such as tamarisk and Russian olive which can reproduce prolifically following fires.     
Woody additions to the stream channel will gather wildfire mobilized debris, sediment and associated nutrients, capturing and redistributing it within the system rather than letting it be flushed downstream to receiving waters such as Spanish Fork River, Utah Lake and eventually the Great Salt Lake and keeping it out of Municipal and Irrigation water systems. Diamond Fork has already been degraded by years of water distribution systems. These increased flows have reduced habitat complexity and degraded to system for aquatic biota, esp. fish species. Gathering a variety of bed materials, holding them high within the stream and increasing channel complexity will benefit downstream water users and fish and other wildlife in Diamond Fork. Without action sediments and debris will be unimpeded as it moves though the stream damaging the system further and delivering said sediment to water users.

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.

Restoration of riparian habitat within the Spanish Fork River drainage addresses goals and objectives identified in the following management plan.

Diamond Fork Aquatic Habitat Evaluation and Enhancement Planning.  October 2018.  Allred Restoration, Bio-West, and URMCC.  123 pages.

Diamond Fork Area Assessment.  2000.  A cooperative project between URMCC and the U.S. Forest Service.  175 pages.

Lower Diamond Fork Restoration Plan.  2008.

Land and Resource Management Plan-Uinta National Forest.  2001.  USDA Forest Service. -Plan sites management of riparian areas (pg 2.2), management of aquatic species (pg 2.3), wildlife (pg 2.5), and vegetation (pg 2.5).

Utah County RMP:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Cn80Wzst8eoa0o_BqoTBHOPfPm8M6MIe

Document cites need and County support for: Fire Management (p31) Fisheries (p35) Floodplains and River Terraces (p39) Recreation and Tourism (p72) Riparian Areas (p75) Threatened, Endangered, & Sensitive Species (p78) Water Quality and Hydrology (p81) Wetlands (p90)

RANGE-WIDE CONSERVATION AGREEMENT AND STRATEGY FOR BONNEVILLE CUTTHROAT TROUT (Oncorhynchus clarki utah). Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Publication Number 00-19, Salt Lake City, UT.
-Diamond Fork and tributaries are current (5th Water) or future potential (DiaFrk) BCT population centers.

2003.  Land and Resource Management Plan.  Uinta National Forest.  USDA Intermountain Region. 513 pages.  See section 3-2, 5-136, and numerous other objectives relative to riparian habitat within the management plan.

2015.  Utah Wildlife Action Plan 2015-2025.  Project goals address major threats including "fire and fire suppression", "channel downcutting", "improper sediment balance", etc. and addresses threats to multiple WAP species, both aquatic and terrestrial.

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.

There are three current TMDL's that are impacted by this project. Thistle Creek sub-watershed (of which Nebo Creek is a part) has a TMDL for sediment and TDS, Spanish Fork River has one for the same and Utah Lake has another. This project directly will potentially move the system to attainment, but will certain prevent further degradation cause by wildfire effects.

The project will also directly benefit water quality in several ways, including the following:

1.	Prevent channel downcutting and promote aggredation of sediments in entrained reaches.
2.	Reduce sedimentation delivered further downstream (i.e. Thistle Creek, Spanish Fork River, Utah Lake, Jordan River and The Great Salt Lake)
3.	Retain stream and floodplain connectivity (advantageous in many ways especially by promoting health riparian plant community)
4.	Promote infiltration of precipitation and surface flow into the groundwater table.
5.	Slow/buffer the flow of precipitation and overland flow into the river, thus extending the hydrograph but reducing its peak
6.	Trap/filter sediment, nutrients, and contaminants thus prevent (reducing) its movement downstream.  Riparian vegetation also can remove/alter organic nutrients through processes such as denitrification, absorption by clays, etc.

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.

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. Add Large Woody Debris to perennial stream reaches to create sediment deposition areas both within the active channel and to deflect debris flow onto the floodplain.  Two different techniques are expected to be implemented.  Post Assisted Log Structures (PALS) 50-60 will predominately be utilized in the Diamond Fork drainage and Directional Tree Felling (DTF) 40-50 will be implemented in the Nebo Creek drainage.
2.  Install 15-20 boulder clusters consisting of 2-3 large diameter boulders (1500-2000 lbs each) to areas of low habitat complexity to enhance fisheries habitat.  Structures may be used in conjunction with DTF/PALS.  Diamond Fork River.  
3.  Install 10-15 rock vanes and/or J-hooks to redirect the thalweg away from vulnerable banks, reduce near shore stress, and enhance habitat complexity.  The majority of structures will be installed in the Nebo Creek Drainage.
4.  Take high resolution (before/after) aerial imagery via drone to track changes in channel/habitat.  UDWR (Shane Hill) is currently building a model to monitor changes in utilizing the colors and reflections on the water's surface in the imagery to identify and delineate pools, runs, woody debris, and riffles (similar to the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP, 2016).
The effectiveness of this model currently unknown (still in testing mode) but at the very least the aerial footage will allow us to visually track significant changes in the channel.  If the model proves to be effective, we will return to fly the reach annually for 2-3 years after restoration and then move to a 2-3 year interval or as needed.  
5.  Establish ground level photopoint monitoring sites, monitor every 6-12 months (Winter 2018-Winter 2022)).
6.  Seed any riparian areas disturbed by installation of PALS, DTF, or rock clusters.
7.  Obtain NEPA/EA from Forest Service (Spring 2021) and Arch. Clearance from FS or UDWR.  
8.  Stream Alteration Permit (Spring 2021).

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.

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.