Nevada Spring Creek 



Restoration objectives: Restore habitat suitable for cold-water trout; improve downstream 

 water quality, and reduce thermal stress in Nevada Creek and the Blackfoot River. 



Project Summary 



Nevada Spring Creek, a tributary of lower Nevada Creek, originates from an 

 artesian spring and flows through agricultural lands to its junction with Nevada Creek at 

 mile 6.2. The spring source produces between six and nine cfs. Nevada Spring Creek is 

 joined at the source by Wasson Creek, a small, basin-fed tributary that brings and 

 additional base flow of approximately two cfs during the non-irrigation season. Water 

 temperatures at the artesian source are a constant year-around 44.1°F (Appendix I). 



A comprehensive habitat restoration project for the upper 4.2 miles of Nevada 

 Spring Creek was completed between 2001 and 2004. The project entailed the complete 

 reconstruction of Nevada Spring Creek, riparian grazing changes, instream flow 

 enhancement, wetland restoration and shrub plantings. Prior to restoration, summer 

 water temperatures in the lower portion of Nevada Spring Creek exceeded >75''F due to 

 the over-widened condition of the channel (Pierce et al. 2002). This warming and 



Stream legnth (ft) 



Sinuosity 



Surface Area (acres) 



Mean wetted widtli (range) (ft) 



Pool Frequency 



Mean pool depth (ft) 



W/D Ratio 



Table 3. Comparison of channel morphometries in Nevada Spring Creek before and after 

 reconstruction. 



agricultural runoff from adjacent lands contributed to water quality degradation, and 

 created unsuitable habitat conditions for coldwater salmonids in the lower portion of 

 Nevada Spring Creek and contributed to impaired water quality in lower Nevada Creek 

 (Pierce et al. 2002). • . . . 



Fish populations and 

 other project monitoring 



Prior to channel 

 restoration, Nevada 



Spring Creek supported 

 low densities of brown 

 trout in upper reaches and 

 non-game species 



(redside shiners, northern 

 pikemirmow, and 



largescale sucker) in 

 lower reaches (Pierce et 

 al 2002). WSCT thought 



2000 



2001 



2002 



2003 



2004 



2005 



Figure 32. Brown trout densities (fish >4.0") in upper Nevada Spring 

 Creek, 2000-05. 



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