Catherine Creek River Mile 38 Stream Restoration

The CC-38 project is located on privately owned property along Catherine Creek downstream of Union, Oregon. The property is currently managed as an operating farm and ranch, with much of the historic floodplain being in hay and pasture production. The channel through the project reach is moderately confined with a floodplain width of 67 feet, a sinosity of 1.19, and a stream gradient of 0.5%. In August 2017, after many years of discussion and negotiation with the Union SWCD and other natural resource agency partners, the landowner signed a 15 year riparian easement agreement based on the conceptual actions defined in the 15% conceptual drawings. The landowner has not eliminated the possibility of future, more extensive restoration actions on his property. Proposed conceptual actions are intended to increase both summer and over-wintering habitat conditions for juvenile salmonids. Favrot and Jonasson (2014) found one pool within the project reach contained the largest amount of overwintering juvenile Chinook in the Catherine Creek basin and also found that a second pool in the reach had the next highest, but lacked a large wood component. In addition, they identified that juvenile Chinook in the reach were primarily associated with small transient wood owning to the lack of stable large wood in the reach. This project intends to enhance five pools with large wood placement, reduce stream bank slopes to promote riparian plant survival, and decrease stream sedimentation through the placement of large wood complexes. Project construction is planned for the summer of 2021. Currently, project designs developed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) are near a 30% level, but BOR staff is unavailable to complete design work within the project timeline. Project funding is being sought to develop the designs to final construction ready plan sets that include updated topographic survey and permit and regulatory requirements.