Fish Creek is a principle tributary to the South Fork of Chalk Creek in Summit County. Chalk Creek is a major watershed within the Weber River Basin, supporting large populations of mule deer and one of the largest remaining populations of Bonneville cutthroat trout, along with an intact native fish assemblage, encompassing 121 total miles of habitat. The watershed has a long history of land use, degradation and slow recovery through restoration partnerships. The trajectory of Chalk Creek has moved in the positive direction in recent years; nevertheless the need to protect this important cutthroat trout population, particularly through actions on the South Fork and Fish Creek persists. In the South Fork Chalk Creek watershed, like many other places, unmanaged grazing has resulted in uneven utilization by cattle, with a disproportionate impact on the riparian system along Fish Creek. Concurrently there has been a shift in the entire rangeland plant community to a shrub-dominated landscape composed of early-successional and annual grass species with little forage value. Bare ground is common and deep rooted grasses are largely absent. As a result of these degraded rangeland and riparian conditions, extensive overland erosion occurs and enters the waterways. As a result, the South Fork of Chalk Creek was identified as one of the largest non-point sources of nitrogen in the Rockport-Echo TMDL. The primary need fulfilled with this proposal is the development of an off-channel watering system along Fish Creek. Developing the needed infrastructure to allow livestock to be rotated across the landscape is a critical step towards watershed restoration. The juxtaposition of livestock management and a highly erosive geology makes this tributary system a high priority for improved management as highlighted in the Rockport-Echo TMDL Implementation Plan. This project is part of a larger effort in the South Fork of Chalk Creek, driven by the South Fork Chalk Creek CRMP, which looks to improve the overall rangeland health and water quality through the following practices that we expect to put in place: i. Prescriptive Grazing Plans compatible with the arid landscape ii. Partition fencing to improve control of livestock distribution across variable habitat types iii. Off-channel watering to compliment pasture development iv. Riparian fencing on sensitive areas By improving the grazing management, riparian vegetation can be released from grazing pressure and allowed to stabilize and shade streams, and consequently improve water quality downstream. There is no single landowner in the South Fork watershed; in fact, no public land management agency owns land within the watershed. This private land ownership situation increases the need for cooperation and consensus in order to manage natural resources that depend on landscapes that exceed any single landowner's property boundaries. The CRMP is one that builds this kind of cooperation and consensus.

The objectives of this project are to: 1) Provide off-channel watering areas for domestic livestock 2) Improve rangeland health by providing the tools necessary for improved livestock distribution 3) Improve riparian health by reducing the unmanaged and concentrated livestock use within these sensitive areas

This project aims to reduce a number of threats on the landscape: 1) Invasive Species: Various noxious weeds persist throughout the rangeland, symptoms of improper grazing. Perhaps the greatest threat is that of annual grasses in the lower rangeland areas. Under current conditions, these grasses flush and cure before cattle even enter the range, resulting in unusable rangeland conditions. 2) Rangeland Resiliency: In many places the perennial grasses occuring on the range are early successional species. They tend to have shallower roots and cure out earlier in the season. This affects the productivity of the range during average years, but it also reduces the resiliency to extended drought conditions. The spring of 2017 was a perfect example of this. With abundant early-season moisture we expected to see tremendous growth of rangeland species. Instead of a large flush of growth, much of the range was stunted, still recovering from previous years of unmanaged grazing. 3) Riparian health: Riparian species serve three critical roles. Riparian vegetation buffers water temperatures through stream shading, filters fine sediments generated from upland areas of the watershed before they enter the waterways, and riparian vegetation stabilizes stream banks, reducing downstream sedimentation and protecting the vertical stability of streams, which feeds back to a high water table. Continued concentrated use in Fish Creek will lead to further degradation of the streambed (down cutting) continued downstream sedimentation, and increased water temperatures during the summer months.

This project supports goals in several plans at various scales. First, Stream and riparian health were listed as the second-most important issue in the South Fork Chalk Creek CRMP, a landowner-driven planning process. This project will take significant steps towards improvements in riparian conditions on Fish Creek and the South Fork of Chalk Creek. The Rockport-Echo TMDL listed the South Fork of Chalk Creek as a major contributor of nutrients to Rockport Reservoir. This is mainly through nonpoint sources in the watershed (e.g. cattle grazing). The Weber River Watershed Plan identified improvements in grazing as an important strategy towards improving the resiliency of the Chalk Creek Ecological system.

This project takes steps towards improving the rangeland resiliency to fire. Although an off-channel watering system doesn't individually improve the range resiliency, it represents a significant step forward. Major fire threats, include areas of dense juniper growth and annual grass encroachment particularly in the lower areas of the watershed. This project will not eliminate the threats, but it provides the tools needed to distribute livestock more effectively. Future efforts, such as partition fencing will allow for greater livestock control, which will also allow some areas to rest, providing an opportunity for native grasses to recover.

This project benefits water quality in three ways: 1) Reduction in overland fine sediment contributions to the streams through improved rangeland conditions. 2) Reduction of bank erosion due to extended, concentrated use in riparian areas. 3) Improved stream temperatures, which will change as riparian conditions improve over time.

We have three compliance points that we will need to meet: 1) Water Rights: Stockwatering water rights exist to support this project. 2) Cultural: We are currently working on securing the cultural clearances for this project. 3) Stream alterations: We will submit a stream alteration application as we develop a final design.

We will develop 1-2 intakes in Fish Creek, which will pull water out of stream using solar pumps. Water will be delivered through 2-3" poly pipe pipelines to water tanks at a rate of approximately 21 gallons per hour. The overall storage in the water tanks will be approximately 15,000 gallons. From the tanks, water will flow to several distribution tanks.

We will continue to monitor the rangeland and riparian conditions through aerial surveys, water temperature sensors, and future SVAP assessments.

G Bar Ventures Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Utah Department of Agriculture and Food NRCS Utah Division of Water Quality

This project is part of a larger effort to improve watershed conditions in the South Fork of Chalk Creek. Key to this effort is water distribution for cattle. Future and concurrent actions include the development of a grazing strategy, and partition fencing to improve the control of cattle distribution.

This project primarily benefits livestock by improved forage conditions and access to water in places where it had not been in the past. This opens rangeland that was underutilized and relieves the pressure in critical areas such as riparian zones.

07/01/2017

06/29/2018

2018

We completed this project during the spring/summer of 2018. We installed two solar pumps in an excavated cistern adjacent to Fish Creek. The two solar pumps lift the water up to 4 1700 gallon cisterns, where it is then distributed through a pipeline into 6 water troughs along the north side of Fish Creek. The pipeline alignment is generally along established dirt roads, which minimized the impact.

The overall goals of this project were to reduce the grazing pressure and improve water quality on Fish Creek by working with the landowner on an off-channel watering system. The NRCS completed the engineering design for the project and we were able to raise funding through the Utah Division of Water, and the Water Development fund. Although we haven't had the chance to test this water system for a full grazing season, we are confident in the benefits of improved livestock distribution will become apparent by next year.

This project is one step in a greater effort to improve rangeland conditions and water quality in Fish Creek and the South Fork of Chalk Creek. It is an outgrowth of a Coordinated Resource Management Plan from 2015 and we hope to continue making progress in this watershed with other water systems and grazing management improvements, including pasture fencing and beaver dam analogs.