Weaver Basin Fish Passage Assessments
Project Lead: Trinity County Resource Conservation District
Location of Project: 40.746456, -122.945306
Description of Project:
Weaver Creek, a tributary to the Trinity River, is one of the many headwater watersheds critical to supporting existing and future anadromous sh populations in the Trinity basin. For the Trinity River downstream of Lewiston Dam, these tributaries are perhaps even more important than in other basins given the exclusion of anadromous habitat in the river’s watershed upstream of the dams. The Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) includes the Watershed Restoration Program and Watershed Coordinator Program to assess, plan and implement tributary watershed restoration actions for an improved anadromous sh population in the Trinity River. The resident and anadromous fish species that have been observed in Weaver Basin include Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Brown Trout (Salmo trutta), Speckled Dace (Rhinichthys osculus), Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and Klamath Smallscale Sucker (Catostomus rimiculus). The high water quality (and low temperatures) of the Weaver Creek headwater watershed upstream of developed areas is particularly ideal for supporting coho and steelhead. As climate change drives future temperatures in Northern California higher, cold headwater watersheds such as West Weaver Creek will be become increasingly vital to supporting threatened fish populations, namely threatened anadromous species such as coho salmon.
As a result of hydraulic mining and fire, portions of Weaver Creek are in poor condition. However, these degraded reaches have been assessed and found to exhibit strong potential for improved spawning and rearing conditions, improved fine sediment storage, and reduced fine sediment yield, given appropriate rehabilitation efforts.
This project seeks to update all of the unassessed (26) or unknown passage (11) barrier status in the watershed to provide baseline data for future remediation projects and current partner planning projects. This project will be implemented in collaboration with members of the Trinity River Watershed Council (for which the District is the coordinator) such as the Nor-Rel-Muk Wintu Nation, Yurok Tribal Fisheries, CalTrans, the Watershed Research and Training Center, Trinity River Restoration Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Trinity County Department of Transportation, and the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Currently the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program is developing a Weaver Basin Restoration Plan and proposing to develop a Trinity River Monitoring Plan. The Trinity County Resource Conservation District will complete the monitoring and reporting with partners from the Nor-Rel-Muk Tribe. The District will utilize existing funding and education networks to complete two eld trips with local students to present the protocols for assessing fish passage and discuss the larger implications for fish passage barriers to ecosystem health. The District will also present findings to the Trinity River Watershed Council. The District will host the Council for a field tour of any newly identified full or partial barriers from this assessment.
