This project assessed 37 unassessed or unknown-status fish passage barriers in the Weaver Creek watershed, a headwater tributary to the Trinity River near Weaverville in Trinity County, to provide baseline data for future fish passage remediation projects benefiting Coho salmon, steelhead, Chinook salmon, and Pacific lamprey, while engaging local students and tribal partners in the assessment process.
Location: Weaver Creek watershed (including West Weaver Creek, East Weaver Creek, and tributaries), near Weaverville, Trinity County. Weaver Creek is a tributary to the Trinity River, with headwaters inside the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The Trinity River is the longest tributary to the Klamath River, running approximately 130 miles from its headwaters in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to its confluence with the Klamath near Weitchpec in Humboldt County.
Historical Fish Presence: Coho salmon, steelhead, Chinook salmon, and Pacific lamprey are present or historically present in the watershed, along with resident Brown Trout, Speckled Dace, Threespine Stickleback, and Klamath Smallscale Sucker. Weaver Creek is recognized in the California Coho Recovery Strategy as among the highest priority watersheds for restoration in California, and the federal SONCC Coho Recovery Plan identifies Weaver Creek and several of its tributaries as having some of the highest potential for Coho salmon habitat within the upper Trinity River basin. Trrp Coho salmon are listed as threatened under both state and federal ESA. The Trinity River supports some of the last remaining and largest winter and summer run steelhead, Chinook salmon, and Coho salmon populations in California.
Project Lead: Trinity County Resource Conservation District (TCRCD)
Project Partners: Nor-Rel-Muk Wintu Nation (contracted field partner and education co-lead); Yurok Tribal Fisheries (data recipient for Weaver Basin Restoration Plan); Shasta-Trinity National Forest (equipment loan); CalTrans (data coordination at State Route 299 and 3 corridors); Trinity County Department of Transportation; Trinity River Restoration Program; Watershed Research and Training Center; Trinity Alps Unified School District (outreach)
CFPF Funding: $21,850.28
Project Description: The Weaver Creek watershed has been significantly degraded by hydraulic and placer mining, timber harvest, and stream channel re-routing. Multiple restoration efforts are underway by Trinity River Watershed Council members, but 26 barriers in the watershed had never been assessed and 11 had unknown passage status. This project assessed all 37 of those barriers using USFS NAIP protocols, entering data into the California Passage Assessment Database (PAD). Results were shared with CalTrans (which plans culvert-to-bridge upgrades at five sites in 2028), the Yurok Tribe for inclusion in the Weaver Basin Restoration Plan, and the Trinity River Watershed Council via a field tour. Two field trips engaging up to 100 students from Weaverville Elementary and Trinity High School were planned in partnership with the Nor-Rel-Muk Wintu Nation.