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Sotoyome RCD Newsletter
Summer/Fall 2009

Grape Creek Fish Habitat Improvement Projects

In September 2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued their Russian River Biological Opinion for the impacts of the Sonoma County Water Agency's operational activities on threatened and endangered fish in the Russian River watershed. The Biological Opinion represents a 15-year plan to implement fish habitat improvements throughout the watershed to mitigate these impacts. Restoration activities under the Biological Opinion include changes in the flow regime of Dry Creek, fish habitat improvements throughout the Dry Creek watershed, and new approaches to Russian River estuary management in Jenner.

Sotoyome RCD staff will be working with local landowners on Grape Creek, tributary to Dry Creek, to implement the first of the recommended fish habitat improvements listed in the Biological Opinion for the Dry Creek area. Working with local landowners and contractors, the Sotoyome RCD will install large woody debris structures, repair failing banks, and establish native vegetation along select reaches of Grape Creek. Starting in July 2009, 15 log and boulder structures will be installed in the creek channel and along the stream banks of Grape Creek to mimic the natural processes that occur when trees fall into creeks and create complex refuge areas for fish. In addition to providing shelter to salmon and steelhead, these structures will help develop deep pools which act as cool water sanctuaries over hot summer months.

Additionally, stream banks that have become steeply incised will be repaired to keep them from contributing sediment to Grape Creek. These vertical banks will be regraded to a gentler slope and revegetated with native riparian plants. These newly regraded banks will be less prone to erosion and will create a more stable area for agricultural operations. The new vegetation will contribute to slope stability and will create streamside canopy to keep water temperatures cool for fish. For more information on habitat enhancement projects in Grape Creek Watershed, please contact the Sotoyome RCD at 569-1448.

Update

An article published August 4, 2009, in the Press Democrat featured a collaborative restoration project managed by the Sotoyome RCD - the start of construction on a large wood installation to improve coho habitat in Grape Creek, a tributary to Dry Creek.