fish passage barriers throughout the system, irrigation dewatering and entrainment of fish 

 to ditches, excessive Hvestock damage to streambanks, channel straightening and water 

 quahty impairments fi-om agricultural runoff. -. , . ■ r 



The goal of 



o 

 o 



£ 



U 



<-• 

 (D 

 U 



30 

 25 

 20 

 15 

 10 

 5 

 



5i\^c»^ c»\c^. 



Mile 0.1 





S'rS'^ r$^rS^cS^ 



Mile 1.0 



f 'V^f 



Mile 2.4 



Mile 2.6 



Figure 45. CPUE for WSCT and brown trout in four sections of 

 Wasson Creek. 2003-2005. 



the project is to 

 ensure that Wasson 

 Creek will be a 

 significant source of 

 WSCT recruitment to 

 Nevada Spring Creek, 

 Nevada Creek and the 

 Blackfoot River, and 

 provide sufficient 

 forage production for 

 economic 



sustainability to 



ranchlands, while 

 demonstrating a 



successftil 

 collaborative effort. 



Fisheries 



elements of the project include: 1) grazing management over the length of the project 

 area; 2) irrigation changes to accommodate instream flows (low flows and channel 

 maintenance) and fish passage, while preventing fish losses to ditches; 3) reconstruction 

 of 3,625' of new stream in a channelized reach to increase sinuosity fi-om 1.2 to 1.4; and 

 4) floodplain containment measures on -2000' of stream to prevent losses of high flows 

 and improve water conveyance to Nevada Spring Creek. Preventing unwanted fish 

 species into the drainage is i . . 



also to be considered in the 

 future if needed. The 

 Blackfoot Cooperators 



began implementation of 

 the Wasson Creek 

 restoration project in 2005 

 and completion is expected 

 in 2006. 



Instream flow 



targets (habitat 



maintenance and minimum 

 flows) relate to channel 

 "bankflill" cross-sectional 

 area below the lower 

 irrigafion diversion, which 

 is ~3.0 sq. ft or ~ 60% lower than the ~7.5 sq. ft upstream of the diversions. Based on 

 these cross-section differences, we measured bankfull flows at 6.75 cfs above the upper 

 diversion and 3.05 cfs at bankfull below the lower diversion. This 3.05 cfs value 



Date 



Figure 46. Flow measurements above and below the 

 Wasson Creek diversions in 2005 (data by R. Sheilds). 



0.. 



55 



