Mendocino County Project Update
RYAN CREEK (Mendocino County)- Ryan Creek Road Migration Barrier Removal Project- In Construction Ryan Creek, a tributary to Outlet Creek, which is a tributary to the Eel River is one of the longest migrations made by Coho salmon in California. This project removes a concrete box culvert with a jump at the outlet that currently prevents fish from moving upstream and replaces it with a larger “stream simulation” arch structure.  Fish removal at the outlet pool relocated approximately 600 Coho salmon and Steelhead trout, while no Coho were found upstream.

Large trees removed from the fill over the box culvert will be moved upstream and downstream to create numerous small pools and provide cover for fish.

Caspar Creek Design Recognized: The design team for the Caspar Creek Barrier Removal Project led by Winzler-Kelly Consulting, received the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Statewide (Region 9) Outstanding Environmental Project Award in March 2011. The 5C Program, via a California Coastal Conservancy grant, funded design of the project and provided project, team and timeline management. Another Conservancy grant funded portions of project construction (refer to Enews Four & Five for more on the project). Congratulations to project partners- California Coastal Conservancy, Winzler & Kelly, California Department of Fish and Game, National Marine Fisheries Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) & US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station-Redwood Sciences Laboratory.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) represents 130,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide, and is America's oldest national engineering society. The Caspar Creek project is located in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, Mendocino County.

USAL Creek - Usal Road Sediment Reduction Project – Part 1 Construction Begins September, 2011 The Usal Road project represents a unique opportunity to experiment with geo-textile fabric and varying depths of base rock in combination with road drainage and woody material treatments. The cost and effectiveness of various treatments will be studied and results presented in a paper. If proven effective, additional Road BMP’s may be developed.

Mendocino and Humboldt Counties have historic road segments that due to their original design, placement, and maintenance practices that over the past 100 years have left them with deep through-cut segments that can not be effectively drained. Within these through-cut areas seeps, hillslope drainage, and rainfall are concentrated onto the road surface which then acts like a stream channel and bog.  Saturated road surfaces deform and rut quickly and grading to remove the ruts requires deepening of the cuts even further.  Many of these through cut have been exacerbated by the lack of local, affordable, permitted rock sources to surface roads to reduce rutting (in these areas rock often sinks, becoming ineffective in a few years). 

Image of "the bog" on Usal road before treatment

Image of "the bog" after treatment including raising road bed, outsloping for drainage and rolling dip.

This project proposes to use a design/build process to test and implement several techniques within a two mile stretch of Usal Road, Mendocino County Road #431.  The design/build treatments will be monitored this winter and spring to test their effectiveness for possible application on up to 50 miles of County roads with large segments of through cuts.

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The 5C Enews is funded through the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program through the CA Department of Fish and Game

Image of Chinook Fry at top of page courtesy of USFWS & Dan Cox