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1.       The Lower Red River Meadow is comprised of four separate land parcels and approximately 4.5 miles of river channel, located near Elk City in north central Idaho.  The meadow is surrounded by Nez Perce National Forest land and situated at an elevation of 4,200 feet, with some of the surrounding peaks of the Clearwater Mountain Range reaching 6,000 to 7,000 feet.

2.       In 1993, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Trout Unlimited, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation collectively purchased one of the four land parcels from rancher Don Wilkerson.  This 314-acre parcel was then deeded over to IDFG to manage as the Red River Wildlife Management Area (RRWMA). The US Forest Service was instrumental in writing the initial funding proposal to BPA for the restoration work.

3.       On a watershed scale, logging, road building, and gold mining activities have altered the hydrology, sediment delivery, and water quality of the Red River.  Construction of reservoirs and hydroelectric dams in the higher-order river systems downstream (Snake and Columbia) has inhibited the migration of anadromous fish species.  On a local scale, the river channel has been straightened and riparian vegetation eliminated due to dredge mining or in an attempt to maximize the grazing area throughout the meadow.  The river ecosystem has responded in the following ways:

 

§         the river length has been reduced,

§         the river’s erosive power has increased,

§         the channel bed has downcut,

§         the groundwater table has lowered,

§         the meadow floodplain is inundated less frequently,

§         the river has less diversity of instream fish habitat (pools, riffles,

undercut banks, woody debris, spawning gravels), and

§         summer water temperatures are elevated.

 

A portion of the decline in both resident and anadromous fish populations within the Red River drainage has been linked to habitat and water quality degradation.

4.       This project is part of the Northwest Power Planning Council’s Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (FWP).  As part of the FWP, the project is one of BPA’s many efforts at off-site mitigation for damage to salmon and steelhead runs and their migration and wildlife habitat caused by the construction and operation of federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries.

5.       This restoration effort includes two years of planning, five years of implementing the restoration design, and seven years of effectiveness monitoring.

6.       The Nez Perce Tribe and IDFG recognize the Red River as a potential, major spring chinook and steelhead production stream. The river’s upper and lower meadows were identified early on in the FWP as a high priority for spawning and rearing habitat enhancement.

7.       The overall project goal is to restore the physical and biological processes and functions of the Lower Red River Meadow ecosystem to provide high quality habitat for chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), and other anadromous and resident fish species.  In accomplishing this goal, our holistic approach targets restoration of the riparian/wet meadow ecosystem and adjacent uplands and links the local watershed and downstream habitats.  Therefore, additional benefits accrue to waterfowl; upland wildlife; and other aquatic-, wetland-, and riparian-dependent species.

8.       We have established the following project objectives:

• Restore natural river channel shape, meander pattern, and substrate conditions to enhance the quality and quantity of spawning and rearing habitat for chinook salmon, steelhead trout, bull trout, and other anadromous and resident fish and aquatic organisms.
• Restore meadow and riparian plant communities to enhance fish and wildlife habitat, stabilize streambanks, and improve water quality.
• Promote public and agency awareness and scientific knowledge of watershed and river restoration principles and techniques.
• Measure and document progress in satisfying short- and long-term project goals, objectives and expected outcomes.
• Manage and communicate project activities to efficiently accomplish project goals.

9.       A natural channel design allows the channel to evolve into a stable, dynamic state over time.  In a stable state, a channel may migrate laterally over time, but will retain its cross-sectional shape.  Our restoration design mimics natural river/wet meadow ecosystem conditions by restoring natural physical and biological processes given current watershed inputs, using established geomorphic and ecological design criteria, empirical relationships for natural stream characteristics, hydraulic modeling, and 1936 photographs as guides.  A natural channel restoration approach is characterized by the following:

• The stream is unconfined by rigid, unnatural bank stabilizing structures.
• The stream is returned to a self-regulating state of dynamic equilibrium by restoring
• river channel geometry and meander pattern,
• floodplain hydroperiod,
• groundwater-meadow relationship,
• sediment transport regime, and
• high quality and diverse fish habitat.
• Riparian plant communities provide the natural bank stabilizing force where
• plantings accelerate the establishment of native communities,
• plants are produced from cuttings or seed collected on-site or as near the site as possible,
• deep and dense root systems increase bank stability, thereby reducing erosion and improving water quality,
• restoration of the river’s hydrologic function improves conditions for natural regeneration of native riparian and wetland plant communities in the future, and
• improvements to fish habitat include overhanging vegetation, undercut banks, reduced water temperatures, and sources of nutrients and instream woody debris.

10.   The implementation phases of the project began in 1996 on the first of four parcels within the lower meadow, the RRWMA.  Restoration of the 1.5 miles of stream on this property was divided into four phases with the intent of completing one phase per year, beginning on the upstream end of the property (Phase I) and finishing on the downstream end (Phase IV).  Phases I through IV are complete.  Future restoration work will move to willing landowners upstream and downstream of the RRWMA.

11.   Restoration activities included reconnecting historic meanders, constructing new meanders, reshaping channel cross sections, installing rock grade control structures, and planting native riparian vegetation.  Reconnecting historic meanders and constructing new meanders increased channel length by 5,045 feet, increased sinuosity by 60 percent, and decreased channel slope by 40 percent.  Water velocity is significantly slower and water depth is significantly greater in the post-restoration channel.  Riffle area decreased by more than 30 percent, accompanied by an equal increase in deeper water habitats, and overall habitat area for fish and other aquatic organisms increased by nearly 50 percent.

12.   We planted more than 100,000 native riparian and wetland plants including a variety of woody shrubs (willows, red osier dogwoods, serviceberry, thinleaf alder) and herbaceous seedlings (sedges, rushes, bulrushes).  Several riparian plant enclosures aided the study of ungulate browsing impacts on plant survival and provided important information for developing adaptive management strategies.

13.   Our comprehensive monitoring program began in 1997 to assess the effectiveness of our restoration designs and implementation techniques.  A substantial number of physical and biological parameters are measured that describe post-restoration changes in the stream ecosystem’s structure, hydrology, riparian plant community composition, aquatic habitat diversity, fish populations and redd densities, and wildlife habitat value.

14.   An educational outreach program includes slide presentations, on-site tours, field season newsletters, outdoor classroom opportunities, and a web page.

15.   For additional detail, project progress reports, monitoring reports, and photographs can be found on our web site at www.redriver.uidaho.edu.