Also In This Issue:South Fork Trinity River Monitoring .. 3Photo Collage of Kids Events............. 4Children's Page ................................ 5FireWise Community Workshop ........ 6Featured Employee........................... 6District Manager's Corner ................. 7

Fall 2003 Vol. XII No. 4

Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 20031

Trinity River Gravel: for Now and the Futureby Trinity River Restoration Program Staff

The goal of the Trinity RiverRestoration Program (TRRP) is torestore a self-sustaininganadromous fishery downstream ofLewiston Dam. Anadromous fish,such as salmon and steelhead, areborn in the Trinity River and itstributaries, live most of their livesin salt water, and then return tofreshwater again to spawn asadults. The TRRP hopes to assistin the recovery in these species byrestoring to the Trinity River theattributes of a healthy alluvial(gravel & cobble) river.Historically gravel moved downthe river, much like on a conveyorbelt, each year with high-flows.With construction of the TrinityRiver and Lewiston dams, riverflows were drastically reducedand access to gravel upstream ofthe dams was cut off. River gravelfor use by creatures of all life-stages was either washeddownstream or locked in the riverbanks, held immobile by abundantvegetation. Now the river lacksthe abundant and clean gravelneeded to form complex spawningand rearing habitat for fish.

Gravel also scours riversidevegetation during high flows,maintaining diverse floodplainhabitats. InSeptember of thisyear, the TRRP took afirst step towardscorrecting thisproblem.Approximately 3,000tons of local Trinity

River coarse sediment (1- 6 inchclean gravel) was placed directly

Gravel was placed directly in the Trinity River by local contractor Clint Robison

continued on page 2...

Trinity County Resource Conservation District

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2Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 2003

into the river upstream of the oldLewiston Bridge in Lewiston.

Several past Trinity River gravelintroduction efforts have relied onplacement of gravel along theriver’s edge. These stock pilesrequire high flows (which areunreliable in timing) to move thematerial into the active river channeland downstream This year’s projectused a front-end loader to spreadmaterial approximately 2 ft deepover a little more than ½ acre ofriver bed. Concrete AggregateProducts, Inc. performed the workover a two week period. Turbiditymeasurements were taken every twohours to determine project impactsto water quality, meet Water QualityControl Board permittingrequirements, and to ensure thatthese were minimal. Surveys weremade to ensure that gravel wasinstalled to an elevation that wouldbe usable for fish and passable byrecreationists during decreased fallflows. For long-term monitoring, atleast two pre and postimplementation comparisons will bemade. Fish use will be comparedbefore and after the project andseveral surveyed river cross

sections will allow quantificationof changes in channel form overtime.

In the future, the TRRPintends to re-establish aman-made equilibrium ofgravel supply belowLewiston Dam. This willbe carried out under theguidance of our CoarseSediment Management Plan(CSMP) which will outlinemethods, locations, andamounts of coarse sediment

(gravel) to be added to theTrinity River based on knownannual flow regimes and reachspecific gravelneeds. Since largeamounts of gravel,up to 100,000 tons,are presentlyprescribed by theTrinity River FlowEvaluation Studyfor very wet years,this first projectprovided importantinsights intoregulatory andphysical challengeswhich our programwill encounter withlarger proposed coarse sedimentintroductions. An adequatenumber of trucks will need to beavailable, larger areas ofvegetation may need to be clearedto allow better river access,traffic routes will need to beidentified and marked, and actualmovement of the gravel into theriver will have to be done morequickly. In addition, the samemethods used to protect theenvironment in smaller jobs maynot be adequate in larger and

long-term operations. Forexample, concerns about short-term degradation of water clarityand potential for chemicalcontamination were addressed thisyear as gravels were thoroughlywashed before addition. This maynot be practical on a very largescale. What is more, monitoring ofnear-project water clarity(turbidity) indicated that, at aminimum, some short-termturbidity impacts were inevitablewith gravel additions during clearsummer periods. Perhaps theCSMP will need to recommendwinter/spring introduction ofgravels when flows and turbidity

are both high. In any case, theTRRP will work withenvironmental protection agenciesto outline long-term procedureswhich allow such beneficialactions to take place. In the area ofgravel management, the only long-term assurance seems to be theneed for more gravel. Answerswill probably only be won throughexperience and continuedcoordination with interestedlandowners and regulators.

...continued from page 1

Gravel was spread to an approximate in-river depth of one or two feet

Turbidity samples, to determine project impactsto water clarity, were required every two hours

3Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 2003

Trinity County RCD has justcompleted a monitoring project of theSouth Fork Trinity River. Theamount of sediment getting into theriver has been a concern of fisheriesbiologists and land mangers. TheState of California included the riverin its list of polluted waterbodies forsediment. In 1998 the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency setlimits for the amount of sedimentbeing discharged in the river in adocument called a Total MaximumDaily Load.

The South Fork CoordinatedResource Management PlanningGroup (SFCRMP) has led the effortto understand the sediment problemand helped the RCD set up a planwith two goals: [1] get a generaloverview of the watershed – asnapshot, if you will, and [2] try out amethod in a couple of tributaries as away of looking at the effectiveness ofrestoration projects. The monitoringplan included looking at finesediments being carried in the streamsduring storms (sediment loads),surveys of the shape of streamchannels (channel geometry) and thesizes and distribution of rocks instreambeds (bulk sampling). TheDistrict hired Graham Matthews &Associates, a Weaverville companyspecializing in river monitoring, tohelp design and implement the projectwith the input of the SFCRMP.Monitoring the fine sediment instreams requires measuring theamount of water flowing in the streamduring storms and collecting watersamples to measure the amount offine sediment that is in the waterduring those same storms. To do thisa monitoring network was set up thatincluded:

· 34 sites to measure flow and collect water samples

· 18 sites managed by the US Forest Service

· 6 sites for measuring channel shape (geometry)

· 3 bulk-sampling sites on the mainstem of the South Fork Trinity River to look at the sizes distribution of rocks in the riverbed

A team that included staff fromGraham Matthews & Associates, theUSFS, the RCD, and volunteers fromthe SFCRMP:

· Collected 253 discharge (flow) measurements.

· Collected hundreds of water samples that were tested for the amount of sediment in the water. This is called suspended sediment concentration.· Calculated the flow rates at 28 stations. These calculations are called stage discharge relationships or discharge curves.· Calculated the amount of sediment being delivered to streams based on the size of the streams’ watershed areas.

Using the District’s GeographicInformation System (GIS) data forsteepness of slopes, geology, firehistory, landslides, timber harvesthistory and road density were used to

look at links to the sediment measuredin the streams.Some interesting findings from thereport are:

· Different types of geology appear to have little relationship to the amount sediment measured at most of the studied sites.· The “Hayfork Creek near Hayfork site” (15 on the map) had 211 tons of sediment per square mile and Grouse Creek had 1,200 tons per square mile.· Barker Creek’s series of monitoring sites helped locate the major sources of sediment, which are in the lower part of the stream. This type of monitoring will be useful in identifying restoration projects and their effectiveness in other watersheds.· There does not appear to be a simple link between features like road density or percentage of watershed harvested to the amount of sediment being delivered to streams.· This detailed program of stream flow and sediment transport measurement has quantified substantial differences in sediment yield between sites.

The RCD is grateful to its key partnersin this project, including the South ForkCoordinated Resource ManagementPlanning group, a voluntary,landowner-based collaborative; the USForest Service; California Departmentof Fish and Game; Trinity CountyPlanning Department and theWatershed Stewards Program ofAmeriCorps. Funding for this projectwas provided by the State WaterResources Control Board’s 205(j)Program, Trinity County PlanningDepartment, and the CaliforniaDepartment of Fish and Game.

RCD Completes South Fork Trinity River Monitoring Project

Measuring Channel Geometry: CrossSection and Longitudinal Profiles

Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 20035

Fall is an exciting time of year with the leaves falling from the trees, salmon returning from the sea, and everyone preparing for Halloween!

Look for the fall words below hidden in among the letters to the right.

SALMON CHINOOK PUMPKIN JACK O LANTERN DECOMPOSE TRICK OR TREAT SPAWNER CANDY COSTUMES FALL LEAVES

TDECOMPOSEFS

CRPSLJVHCGAY

BAIOMAPLELMP

SDNCPCKBMCEU

AYOPKKIOH OSM

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MERIPLRDYTAK

SMEPEASTCUDI

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DJVLVTSNIEJO

NTKENEIOESAB

AMOVVRPOORCT

CNLRONMKJZKY

VFALLCHINOOK

CHINSEVAELPV

FUN FALL ART PROJECT! 1. Collect cool leaves from the ground that have

fallen from the trees 2. Place leaves on a hard surface in a neat design.

Make sure that the side of the leaf with the veins on it is facing up.

3. Place a piece of paper over leave design 4. Take a crayon or pencil and gently rub it back

and forth over the leaves until they magically appear!

Where does a salmon keep his

money?

Answer: In a river bank!

• Why do trees lose their leaves in the fall?

• Why do some trees keep their leaves while others lose them?

Things to think about:

Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 20036

Featured Employee

The Trinity County Fire Safe Councilwith the help of the Trinity CountyResource Conservation District isparticipating in a unique opportunityto bring community leaders togetherto deal with the threat of wildfires inour region. The North Coast FirewiseCommunity Workshop is being held atthe Riverlodge Conference Center inFortuna on November 18-19. Theworkshop is one in a series being heldnationally to create communitydialogues regarding what it takes tolive wisely with wildfire.

More than 30,000 structures havebeen lost to wildfires in the UnitedStates since 1970. Fighting these fireshas cost taxpayers $25 billion, and anadditional $10 billion have been spentby the insurance industry to repayvictims of wildfire. There are manyreasons behind this trend ofcatastrophic wildland fire, includingpopulation growth in areas with higherrisks of wildfire, our past practices offire suppression, and climate change.

This workshop is aimed at addressingthese issues by:

1. Improving safety in thewildand/urban interfacethrough sharing responsibilityfor fire prevention

2. Creating and nurturing localpartnerships in fire preventionand suppression efforts, and

3. Integrating Firewise conceptsinto local community anddisaster planning.

This conference is intended for

Firewise CommunityWorkshop Coming to Northern California

community leaders including planners,elected officials, tribal leaders,builders, homeowners, realtors,bankers, fire safe council members,resource advisory committeemembers, insurance representatives,emergency managers, local fireofficers, and forest fire officials fromHumboldt, Del Norte, Trinity,Mendocino, and Siskiyou Counties.

Some of the country’s top experts willlead the two-day event, which willcenter on a state-of-the-art fireprotection planning exercise.Participants will be a part of a teamthat determines how to design ahypothetical community that isFirewise. Participants will learn aboutcurrent research on home ignitabilityand examples of communities thathave successfully adopted fireprotection programs, how to recognizefire hazards and how to incorporateFirewise planning into theircommunities.

Other organizations that are assistingwith the coordination of this eventinclude:Six Rivers National Forest, HumboldtFire Protection District, HumboldtCounty Fire Safe Council, Del NorteCounty Fire Safe Council, LowerMattole Fire Safe Council, CaliforniaDepartment of Forestry and FireProtection, Humboldt County PlanningDepartment, and the Trinity ResourceConservation & Development Council.

Visit the Firewise Communities websiteat http://www.firewise.org/communities for more information.

Erik enjoys living in the mountains,off the grid, and, when he finds thetime, playing music and kayaking.

Erik, GIS Technician, is the newestemployee to join us at the RCD. Nostranger to the area Erik has livedin the county for over 6 years,moving here from San Luis Obispo.

So, what does a GIS Technician atthe RCD do? You will find youranswer if you look around at theDistrict website www.tcrcd.netspecifically, at the updatedWeaverville Basin Trail link. Erikis responsible for updating theKlamath Resource InformationSystem database program (KRIS)using Klamath/Trinity watershedmonitoring data from variousresource agencies, which isavailable to the public. He alsoprovides maps to District projectcoordinators and managers to helpwith the implementation of ourprojects.

But, that’s not all, Erik, owner ofMountain Design, a graphics andsign business, has beenindispensable creating displays andgraphic layouts for our educationand outreach projects. The Districtis fortunate to have someone likeErik, who weaves strong technicalskills with an artist’s eye for style.

Erik Flickwir

Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 20037

District Manager’s Corner--Pat FrostI am often asked, “How does theResource Conservation District comeup with its projects?” Well, ourprojects come to us in a number ofways, but they always have twothings in common. Firstly, all of thework that the District does rises out ofour Long Range Plan. This Planincludes watersheds, forest health,agriculture, recreational trails andconservation education. Secondly,project ideas always have a champion– someone with a vision for theproject and the enthusiasm to see itbecome a reality. This issue of theConservation Almanac has somegreat examples of project champions.The photo-spread of children’s eventson page 4 highlights three suchprojects and their champions. Sixthgraders from Weaverville ElementarySchool go to Bar 717 Ranch for theirEnvironmental Education Camp.This camp has a unique approach ofusing resource professionals, whowork and live in our owncommunities, as the teachers. Theincredible success of the camp year-after-year is due to the dedication andenergy of Dave Newton and DarsiGreen, the sixth grade teachers.Organizing four days of field classesfor 60 school children is no simpletask, and I know that everyone whohas ever helped out as a counselor oran instructor goes away wonderinghow these amazing teachers do it.

On October 7th we held River Day’03 at Coffee Creek School. Thiscelebration is the brainchild of BillLoucks, teacher and principal, atCoffee Creek School. Mr. Louckscame to us last year with the idea of aday-long event that lets schoolchildren from around the county gettheir feet wet visiting learning stationsalong Coffee Creek. Mr. Loucks isdedicated to giving students real-worldexperiences and letting them workalongside the foresters and biologists,

chemists and soils scientists, who areworking in our watersheds and forests.This year children from as far away asBurnt Ranch and French Gulch didjust that collecting information aboutCoffee Creek and learning abouteverything from local geology to fishanatomy.

Cassie Simons wouldn’t let theSalmon Festival die this year. Cassie isour AmeriCorps Watershed Stewardsmember and she came up with theidea of a children’s event to replacethe salmon festival. The dark cloudsof budget cuts loomed over thefestival. Cassie’s energy anddedication to children gave us a ray ofhope and the next thing we knew theChildren’s Salmon Celebration washere. Over 100 children joined in thefun on Saturday, October 4th helpingkick off the Weaverville Chamber ofCommerce “Autumn in the Alps”.The meadow at the Highland ArtCenter was drenched in autumnsunlight and filled with laughter aschildren worked on art projects,played games and took their turn atthe Salmon piñata. I don’t know whowas having more fun the six-year-oldsor the volunteers, who had a chanceto put on a mushroom or eaglecostume and be six years old for acouple of hours.

These project champions shareanother trait. They all inspire othersto volunteer their time and expertise.Many very busy people dedicatedtheir time to these projects following

the lead of Dave, Darsi, Bill andCassie to share their knowledge, theirlove of art or their interest in naturewith the children of Trinity County,and I thank every one of them fortheir help.

RCD Director Greg LowdenElected Treasurer

Canon National Envirothon

The Canon Envirothon is a hands-onoutdoor competition for high school agedyouth that tests students’ understandingof soils, aquatic ecology, wildlife and aspecially selected current issue. Thereare Envirothon programs in 44 states and7 Canadian Provinces. Greg chaired theNational Competition held in Californiain 1999 and has served as the CaliforniaEnvirothon President for 4 years. Formore information about forming yourown team, contact us at the RCD.

Colleen O’Sullivan, RCD BoardMember, meets with ConnieStewart of Assemblymember PattyBerg’s office, on District projects.

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