This project restored connectivity between Seiad Creek and three previously constructed off-channel ponds — Alexander, Stender, and Durazo — in Siskiyou County, California, a tributary system of the Klamath River. By removing sediment blockages and installing wood and rock structures to redirect flow, the project improved access to 19,000 square feet of critical off-channel rearing habitat for ESA-threatened Klamath River Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead, where off-channel winter habitat is a documented limiting factor in salmonid recovery.
This ongoing annual project deploys trained crews each summer to assess and manually treat fish passage barriers at the mouths of up to 72 priority tributaries to the Klamath, Salmon, and Lower Scott Rivers across Humboldt and Siskiyou Counties. Barriers including debris jams, boulder cascades, and perched alluvial deltas are modified using hand tools to create step-pool fishways, and brush bundles installed to enhance thermal refugia. The project benefits coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead, with over 80% of treated sites showing documented increases in salmonid presence post-treatment by 2022.