Jacobs Creek is one of five small direct tributaries that flow into the Weber River near Ogden, Utah. Although small, these tributary streams play a large role in supporting critical spawning and rearing habitats for the fluvial Bonneville cutthroat trout that occur within this reach of the Weber River. These cutthroat trout are not only highly sought after by anglers, but also represent an ecologically important conservation population with a unique migratory life history. Unfortunately most of the spawning habitat in these tributaries remains inaccessible; blocked by road crossings, and irrigation diversions, although TU, UDWR and partners are working collaboratively to improve fish passage on all of these tributaries. Using a PIT tag antenna array, the UDWR has identified Jacobs Creek as the most if not second-most important spawning tributary for BCT in this reach of the Weber River, based on the number of fish detected traveling over PIT tag antennas. This particular culvert occurs at the crossing of the access road that services the Gateway Canal, which is operated by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District and has been in place since the 1960's when the Weber Basin Project was initiated. Although not a complete fish migration barrier, this culvert in tandem with the lower culvert ~400 feet downstream, functioned as a complete barrier. Project partners replaced the lower Jacobs Creek culvert in 2013 and have been working together to find a passage solution for the upper culvert.

Reconnect approximately 2 miles of spawning habitat to the Weber River.

This project addresses the risk of habitat fragmentation within the Weber River. A 2013 basinwide barrier assessment identified almost 400 fish migration barriers across the entire Weber River watershed. The approach taken by TU and the UDWR has been to focus on several key areas in the watershed and prioritize actions within those areas, to effectively address the basinwide challenge. This reach of the Lower Weber River and its tributaries is a priority because of the presence of BCT and Bluehead sucker strongholds.

BCT Conservation Agreement and Strategy Identified habitat fragmentation as a primary threat to BCT persistence. Reconnecting habitat for populations with unique life histories is a primary objective in the Northern and Bear River GMU's. Weber River Watershed Plan Assessing and identifying fish passage barriers is a key strategy within the 2014 watershed plan, specifically as the assessments lead towards prioritized habitat reconnection projects in key areas. This passage project meets those criteria and supports reconnection actions in the plan.

Not applicable for this project.

This project doesn't affect water quality or quantity directly. Jacobs Creek is the only tributary within this segment of the Weber River that does not have irrigation diversions located on the stream and the subwatershed is heavily forested, as a result water quantity and quality reflects the historical hydrography accurately. However this project improves the availability of this clean, cold water to an economically and ecologically important cutthroat trout population.

We will work closely with Weber Basin Water Conservancy district to complete the needed permitting.

Through the Emergency Watershed Protection program Weber County has agreed to replace this culvert with help from partners. The preliminary design includes constructing a step pool complex downstream of the culvert to backwater the invert of the culvert, facilitating fish passage.

An effective monitoring program has been in place on this reach of the Weber River since 2011 using the PIT tag antenna array. This monitoring indicates that Jacobs Creek is one of the most important spawning tributaries to fluvial BCT. Antenna arrays will be placed in the future to track the use of spawning cutthroat trout in proximity to this culvert. Following construction, by placing a PIT-tag antenna downstream and upstream of this culvert, we can determine what percentage of BCT make it upstream of the culvert

Trout Unlimited Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Weber Basin Water Conservancy District Weber County

This project is complimentary to other proposed or completed fish passage actions that project partners have engaged in throughout neighboring tributaries such as Strawberry Creek, Gordon Creek and Peterson Creek. The overall intent of these actions is to reconnect a geographically diverse number of tributaries for BCT spawning to improve the resiliency of this important fluvial population. The tributary actions are also complimentary to actions and opportunities within the Weber River mainstem, which includes instream flow leasing and a collaborative FERC hydropower relicensing project on PacifiCorp's power facility.

None.

04/03/2017

06/29/2018

2018

We used unique design methods on this project. We used low-level aerial imagery to develop a 3D model of the project area, and used that information to develop a design based on the elevation data. This provided us with the information we needed to determine the number and placement of step pools. Weber Basin Water Conservancy District completed the project under funds raised with a WaterSMART grant. 6 step pools were constructed using rock drop structures averaging 15 inches each.

This project reflects a great example of a collaborative working relationship between water suppliers and the aquatic interests. Through this collaborative effort, we were able to work together to secure necessary funding resources to produce a positive project for the fishery and also to improve the strength of the WaterSMART proposal through the BOR. Final numbers have not been reported yet, be this project was intended to make both culverts on lower Jacobs Creek fully fish passable, and this project completed that goal.

The UDWR northern region and TU will continue monitoring fish migrations in this reach of the Weber River. Tributary spwaning continues to be an important contributing factor to the sustainability of this fishery.