Restoration of Old-Growth Watershed Habitats

According to the Stream Inventory Report of the Jacoby Creek, the Jacoby Creek is classified as a third order stream. According to the Department of Fish and Game District Biologist Collin Anderson, it is a fourth order stream. The drainage of the creek is approximately 5267 hectares (16.6 sq miles) and drains into the Humboldt Bay. Elevations ions in the watershed range from 728 feet at the headwaters to sea level at the mouth.   

Primary Pools within healthy third and fourth order streams maintain maximum depths of at least 3 feet. Many sections within the Jacoby Creek are unable to maintain year-round water levels higher than 1-2 feet. Due to loss of habitat created by removal of fallen trees from the instream habits, illegal siphoning of creek water, and drought; The Jacoby Creek is currently operating as an intermittent stream, with water levels and stream currents occurring at irregular intervals and not continuous nor steady.  

Riparian Zones of the Jacoby Creek Watershed will be expanded to increase water circulation throughout the Jacoby Creek Forest year-round, increase surface water retention, and provide supporting irrigation needed to ensure that maximum depths of 3 feet or greater are maintained year-round.   

Species of fish to be reared: Coho Salmon

Number to be reared: 5000+ redds  

Size(s) at release: 5-6 inches 

Date(s) of release: 1-2 years of age 

Release site(s): Jacoby Creek – Humboldt Bay – North Pacific Ocean 

Source of eggs or fry: Jacoby Creek 

Project Funding: Grants and Publications 

Supporting and Cooperating Organizations: Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, Lost Coast Native Food Nursery, California Department of Fish and Game, Natural Resources Conservation Agency, Small Business Development Center 

Species of fish to be reared: Steelhead Rainbow Trout 

Number to be reared: 5000+ redds  

Size(s) at release: 5-6 inches 

Date(s) of release: 1-2 years of age 

Release site(s): Jacoby Creek – Humboldt Bay – North Pacific Ocean 

Source of eggs or fry: Jacoby Creek 

Project Funding: Grants and Publications 

Supporting and Cooperating Organizations: Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, Lost Coast Native Food Nursery, California Department of Fish and Game, Natural Resources Conservation Agency, Small Business Development Center 

The Arcata Community Forest Management Plan States: 

“The primary limiting factor to salmonid production in the Jacoby Creek watershed is most likely fine sediment (Lisle, 1985). Fine sediment impacts spawning gravel by reducing egg survival and restricting emergence of the fry from the gravel. In addition, heavy sedimentation following spawning can kill all the eggs by blanketing the nest. Excess sediment also reduces the living space for aquatic insects, thereby reducing the food supply for fish and amphibians (MacDonald, et al. 1991).” 

The Beaver Restoration Guidebook administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Services state:  

“Beaver dams can influence sediment transport rates in a watershed and act as long-term sinks for both suspended and bedload sediments (Green and Westbrook 2009). Sedimentation rates behind beaver dams vary widely and typically are a function of (1) sediment availability from upstream, and (2) flows capable of liberating and transporting this sediment (Pollock et al. 2014). Aggradation rates range from 1 inch to upwards of 1.6 feet per year, depending on the region and the interrelationships among flow, sediment characteristics, and pond geometry (Devito and Dillon 1993, Butler and Malanson 1995, Pollock et al. 2007). As beaver begin to reoccupy sites, they tend to choose dam locations that will pond large amounts of water (Duncan 1984) and have high sediment trapping capabilities (Ringer 1994). Allred (1980) found that 10 beaver ponds along the South Fork Snake River trapped 63 percent of the suspended sediment during peak flow. On Beaver Creek, Idaho, Reiner (1983) reported that four ponds trapped 78 tons of sediment in a single snowmelt period. Brayton (1984) reports that three years after beaver reintroduction, suspended sediment loads in Currant Creek, Wyoming, dropped by about 90 percent (from 33 tons per day to 3 tons per day). Pollock et al. (2007) found that beaver dams in Bridge Creek, Oregon, collected up to 1.5 feet of sediment behind them during the first year they were in place. This aggradation behind the dams (including dams up to 6 years in age) resulted in an average reduction in slope of 1.3 percent within beaver-modified reaches compared to upstream reaches with no beaver dams.  

The total amount of sediment that can be stored behind beaver dams can be substantial. For example, 22 ponds in a 620-meter stretch of Mission Creek, Washington, stored 5,847 cubic yards of sediment, for an average of 266 cubic yards per pond (Scheffer 1938). In Quebec, Canada, Naiman et al. (1986) measured retained sediment volumes that ranged from 346 cubic yards to 8,502 cubic yards on second- to fourth-order streams. Butler and Malanson (2005) estimated that modern beaver ponds (i.e., after European settlement) are storing between 9.8 x 108 and 5.0 x 109 yd3 of sediment. 

The sediment retained behind beaver dams can remobilize and become available for transport if dams are intentionally removed, breach as a result of high flows, or are abandoned by beaver (see “How do beavers create their own habitat?” in Frequently Asked Questions). However, when dams breach on small streams, most of the sediment can remain in the pond area (Butler and Malanson 2005). This may be due to lack of erosive flows or because the dam breaches only partially (i.e., there is channel avulsion around the dam), leaving most of the dam in place. As the water table recedes, the remaining nutrient-rich sediment in the abandoned ponds becomes exposed and often is quickly colonized by herbaceous plants or shrubs, forming a beaver meadow (Ives 1942, Johnston and Naiman 1987, Westbrook et al. 2011)” 

Watershed Management Methodologies and Techniques will be modeled after beaver habitat systems to replicate watershed benefits within the Jacoby Creek Watershed by 2030  

Crib Wall and Willow Wall Revetment Techniques will be integrated into the Natural Tree-Dam Plunge-Pools so that over long periods of time, the roots of willow tree will replace the decomposing log-dams to establish permanent high quality spawning pool habitats for the Jacoby Creek Ecosystem. The living root systems of the willow tree will add structural complexity to the log-dam habitats over time and will assist with reducing sedimentation passing through the creek. The willow trees will also be able to provide sufficient covering for any areas of the creek that may be exposed to too much sunlight. 

Coho Salmon Species Status: Endangered 

In 2017, University of Davis and California Trout did an in-depth report detailing the status of 32 types of salmon, steelhead, and trout that are native to California. The report found that if present trends continue, 74% of California’s native salmon, steelhead, and trout populations are likely to be extinct in the next century, and 45% could be extinct within the next 50 years.  

Tagging experiments (2020-2021) done by the Jacoby Creek district biologist, Collin Anderson, “bolstered evidence that newly restored off-channel may play a vital role in the survival of juvenile coho salmon.” 

Monitoring Data indicated: 

“A total of 542 juvenile Coho Salmon were pit tagged in the Fall of 2020 in three sections of main-stem of Jacoby Creek. Due to access in Reach 907 several tagging sites from upper 906 above Morrison Gulch were added into the 907 tag group for analysis (Fig.1.). During the winter of 2021 a total of 290 Coho Salmon were tagged in two off channel restoration sites (Table 1.) in Jacoby Creek. The SJCP site was sampled on six occasions (Table 2). 

….. 

Out of the 542 Coho Salmon marked in Jacoby Creek main-stem in the fall, 161 were recaptured by the LJCMS (Table 1.). A total of 215 individuals from this tag cohort were documented using the restored pond and channel by captures on the LJCP antennas. Juvenile Coho Salmon residency time in the LJCP was calculated from 8.1% of the tagged population emigrating from Jacoby Creek reaches 905, 906, and 907. Residency times in the pond for emigrating fish (N=44) ranged from 1 to 47 days and averaged 11 days (S.E. 1.8). 

Out of the 184 Coho Salmon marked in upper Jacoby Creek pond in the fall and winter, 29 were recaptured by the LJCMS and 39 were recaptured at the LJCP antennas (Table 1.). Juvenile Coho Salmon residency time in the LJCP was calculated with 7.6% of the tagged population emigrating from the UJCP. Residency times in LJCP for emigrating fish (N=14) ranged from 1 to 41 days and averaged 10 days (S.E. 3.7).”  

Steelhead Rainbow Trout Species Status: Endangered 

The greatest number of steelhead in California are in the Klamath-Trinity River System. In 1996, CDFG estimated the total population of steelhead trout within the State of California at 250,000; half the population size 30 years prior. The California Steelhead Restoration and Management Plan (1996) indicated that: 

“The major factor causing the decline in California is freshwater habitat loss and degradation. This has resulted mainly from three factors: inadequate stream flows, blocked access to historic spawning and rearing areas due to dams, and human activities that discharge sediment and debris into watercourses.  

The historic range of steelhead on the north coast (north of San Francisco Bay) has not been reduced as drastically as it has in other areas of the State. Consequently, this area has the greatest amount of remaining steelhead habitat in the State and the most abundant populations. The Klamath-Trinity river system supports the greatest number of steelhead in California. However, these stocks have declined from an estimated run size of 283,000 adults in the early 1960s to about 150,000 in the early 1980s. Steelhead runs in north coast drainages are comprised mostly of wild fish, although the percentage of wild fish appears to have decreased in recent years. Adverse impacts to north coast stocks are mainly from land use activities, primarily timber harvest and agriculture, and water diversion, gravel mining, and predation by recently introduced squawfish. 

….. 

At present, summer steelhead are found only in north coast drainages, mostly in tributaries of the Eel, Klamath, and Trinity river systems.” 

Total Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout Populations within the Humboldt Bay were estimated at: 

Redd estimates with 95% confidence intervals for three species during eleven years in Humboldt Bay