Jack Creek Fish Salvage

The Jack Creek and Indian Creek culvert replacement projects in the Teanaway are moving right along. The fish salvage in the reach below the Jack Creek culvert was conducted on Monday morning. Jen Scott with WDFW used an electroshocker and the rest of the crew (KCCD's Brent Dixon and D.J. Shook and Peter from USFWS) captured the fish in nets. They started in the pool immediately downstream of the existing culvert.

The fish found in the pool included eastern brook trout, rainbow trout (in the photo below), and sculpin.There were lots of crayfish too. They were pretty fiesty!

By Tuesday, the old culvert had been removed to make way for the new one. That's the same pool in the foreground of the photo below. The contractor is expecting to pour footings for the 3-sided box culvert early next week!

AL

Crop mapping is nearly complete for 2009! Here is a map that displays (in orange) what has been mapped. The green indicates what still needs to be completed. SW

PAM for Erosion Control

Polyacrylamide (PAM) has been used in Kittitas County for more than a dozen years. PAM is a flocculant that is added to irrigation water before or as it is applied to a field. PAM causes the soil particles to bind together causing them to fall out of the water column and remain in the field. PAM decreases erosion by 50% to 85% in furrow irrigation fields. In Kittitas County, PAM is commonly applied to sweet corn, potatoes, wheat, oats, sudan grass (see photo below), and new seeding timothy hay fields.
PAM is applied as either a powder or solid (tablets or blocks). The powder is metered into a head ditch or applied in a strip along the upper end of a furrow, before irrigation water is applied. The tablets are also placed in furrows at the upper end and sometimes further down the furrows depending on the soil and the slope of the field. The blocks are placed in netted bags in head ditches as well. PAM is also beneficial to sprinkler irrigation systems. The blocks can be hung on center pivot sprinkler systems to help prevent erosion in the wheel tracks (see below).

The KCCD cost shares with irrigators, providing 50% reimbursement for purchases, up to $2,000 (an irrigator can receive no more than $1,000 per year). This cost share program has been in place for 10 years and impacts an average of 2,000 acres and 15 to 20 irrigators per year. On average, 8,000 tons of soil per year are saved from irrigation induced erosion. To sign up for cost share, contact the KCCD office at 925-8585.

PAM should always be purchased from reputable dealers to ensure quality ingredients. In Kittitas County it is sold by Midstate Co-Op, Kern Company, and Smith-Kem Ellensburg Inc. More information about PAM is available at http://www.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/research/PAM/primer

AL

Jack Creek and Indian Creek

Construction work is beginning on the Indian Creek and Jack Creek culvert replacement projects. These projects are on the North Fork Teanaway Road near mileposts 11 and 13. Both culverts are undersized and are barriers to fish passage.

Jack Creek culvert outfall (6' diameter CMP culvert)

The contractor is currently constructing temporary diversion roads around each site.

Construction will kick into high gear this week and next, as the instream work window starts this Wednesday. Watch the blog for project updates through rest of the summer.

The project is funded by a combination of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Bonneville Power Administration and Western Federal Lands Hwy Division grants, as well as funding from Kittitas County Public Works.

AL

The Quarterly newsletter has gone to print and should be out by next week. SW

Riparian Restoration

We are closing out a small grant with the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for a riparian restoration project on lower Wilson Creek. The project covered an area of approximately 0.5 acres along 1,300 feet of streambank near the City of Ellensburg's Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project began in 2005 when two herbicides were used to control the reed canary grass.
Glyphosate (trade name "Rodeo") and Imazapyr (trade name "Habitat") were applied to different areas in the reach, with the help of the Noxious Weed Control Board's staff. Planting began in May 2006 and continued through 2008. Over 4,800 trees, shrubs and cuttings were planted including the following species: serviceberry, red stem ceanothus, waterbirch, blue elderberry, chokecherry, golden currant, woods rose, mock orange, silver buffaloberry, oceanspray, smooth sumac, black cottonwood, redosier dogwood, drummond willow, McKenzie willow, coyote willow, pacific willow, quaking aspen, and ponderosa pine. A Washington Conservation Corps crew and KCCD staff performed regular maintenance and watering of the site. Drip lines were installed to facilitate easier watering. In addition to the herbicides, recycled hay tarps, weed mats, straw mulch, and bark mulch were used to control the weeds. Browse guards were also installed after some seedlings were damaged by deer.

Trees and shrubs planted on the east side of Wilson Creek. Note the recycled hay tarps close to the water's edge, the weed mats around the trees, the bark mulch, the browse guards, and the drip line. The west side of the Creek was not treated as part of this project. Note the reed canary grass monoculture.

AL