HFQLG Project Evaluation Form
Project Name: Deer Creek Watershed Restoration Project Type: Road Related Watershed Restoration Projects_
Forest: Lassen Ranger District: Almanor Date: October 16, 2007
Attendance:
Agency- Gia Martynn, Watershed Coordinator for Feather River Coordinated Resource Management (CRM);
Jeff Davids, Watershed Coordinator for Butte Creek Watershed Conservancy; Pia Sevelius, Butte County
Resource Conservation District; Robert Smith, USDA, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).
Public- Ken Cawley, retired hydrologist; Jay Francis, Collins Pine Company; Bob Birdsall, Collins Pine
Company.
USFS- Ken Roby, Almanor RD Fisheries Biologist; Mike Derrig, Almanor RD Hydrologist; Robin Bryant,
Almanor RD Grants and Agreements Coordinator; Dave Evans, Lassen NF Silviculturist; Colin Dillingham,
HFQLG Monitoring Coordinator; Deb Bumpus, HFQLG Implementation Team Leader; Elise Reierson, HFQLG
Implementation Team; Paul Stancheff, Plumas NF Vegetation Management.
Project completed by:
Contract__
Date completed: 2002 - 2007_
Type of treatment and acres: Numerous treatments were observed. Accomplishments for 2002 - 2007 on the US
Forest Service portion of the Deer Creek Watershed include 16.9 miles of road drainage improvement; 10.0 miles
of road surface; 45 road crossings; 55 diversion potential dips installed; 8.7 miles of road closures; and 9.5 miles
of road decommissioning.
Resource
Area
Attribute
Objective
Source of
Objective
Degree
Met
Fisheries/
Hydrology
Chronic
Sediment
delivery
Reduce chronic
sediment delivery to
Deer Creek Fishery
Project Design
Yes
Fisheries/
Hydrology
Mass sediment
delivery
Reduce potential for
mass sediment
delivery to Deer
Creek Fishery
Project Design
Yes
Silviculture
Regeneration on
decommissioned
road
Return land to
timber base
Botany
Noxious Weeds
Prevent
establishment of
new noxious weeds
Soils
Road
decommissioning
Reduce compaction
on closed county
road
Yes
Partial
Project Scope
Yes
Comments
Road surfacing reduces
sediment delivery to a
level only 5% of preexisting conditions.
Disconnecting road
drainage from creeks
allows for natural
filtration.
Culvert and bridge
upgrades, diversion
potential dips, and low
water crossings all
prevent storm event
caused road fill losses to
creek
Natural regeneration of
sugar and ponderosa
pine was observed.
Areas with grass
seeding along Calf
Creek had no noxious
weeds, areas without
seeding along Wilson
Lake Rd had bull thistle
present.
Old County road bed
was loosened with
excavator and now
provides good seed bed
for tree seedlings.
Discussion:
The Deer Creek Watershed was portrayed as perhaps the most important watershed in California for Naturally
Reproducing Spring Run Chinook salmon, as well as providing key habitat for steelhead. The natural regime for
both fire and erosion are not within the range of natural variability in the watershed. The Deer Creek Watershed
Restoration projects were designed to help bring the watershed back towards the natural erosion regime.
Shortcomings and Successes:
The Wilson Creek Road relocation project was very successful in removing a road from a stream bottom that had
both chronic sediment problems and occasionally produced mass sediment delivery during storm events. The
project also reduced long-term road maintenance costs, returned the road acres to land suitable for growing
timber and upgraded the alternate road to be able to handle a 100-year storm event, as well as providing for safer
public travel along Tehama County Road 769. The cooperative nature of the project with Forest Service, Collins
Pine Company and Tehama County helped produce a successful project.
The “88” Road improvement project was reviewed and culvert upgrades, rolling dips, low water crossings,
diversion potential dips were examined and discussed. All of these improvements were designed to prevent mass
delivery of sediment to the stream channel during road crossing failures during storm events. The group
discussed the individual projects and felt that the design of each project looked good and would meet the
objective that they were designed for.
The Calf Creek Road 27N06 project, with road surfacing, outsloping, diversion potential dips, cross drains and
culvert upgrades, was reviewed. It was explained that a native surface road produces 20 times the sediment of a
rocked road. Also, by disconnecting the runoff of the road and in slope ditch from the creek, the forest is able to
filter the sediment before water delivery to the creek. Outsloping the road, removing the in slope ditch and
installing cross drains where in slope ditches are necessary, all accomplish the disconnection objective.
There was an economic discussion of the Deer Creek Watershed Restoration program. The district shared the
road treatment accomplishments and associated costs. The group discussed the possibility of doing an economic
cost-benefit analysis of the projects. All agreed it is very difficult to put economic values to the sediment
delivered/not delivered to streams, the number of salmon protected/not protected. Ken Cawley, Dave Evans and
Deb Bumpus explained that the cost-benefit topic was discussed decades ago, and partially due to the difficulty of
assigning dollar figures to environmental values, Best Management Practices were developed so that “the right
thing to do” would be standard practice, rather than arguing over cost-benefits of preventing damage to the
natural environment during project implementation.
Follow up actions:
There are numerous roads in the Deer Creek Watershed that have high potential for failure and subsequent
sediment delivery. The district and coordinated agencies have prioritized the treatments and continued
treatment is needed to alleviate the potential problems.
There is currently no ability to treat the upland forests because the Deer Creek Watershed is in “Off Base” and
“Deferred” land status as designated in the HFQLG Forest Recovery Act. Future wildfires threaten this
watershed and without timber sales, watershed improvement funding is limited. It might be advisable to revisit
the land allocation in future legislation.
District Ranger: _/s/ Alfred G. Vazquez__
Date: 10/18/07