Assess Current and Potential Salmonid Production in Rattlesnake Creek Associated with Restoration Efforts; US Geological Survey Reports, 2001-2002 Annual Report.

摘要

This project was designed to document existing habitat conditions and fish populations within the Rattlesnake Creek watershed (White Salmon River subbasin, Washington) before major habitat restoration activities are implemented and prior to the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead above Condit Dam. Returning adult salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and steelhead O. mykiss have not had access to Rattlesnake Creek since 1914. An assessment of resident trout populations should serve as a good surrogate for evaluation of factors that would limit salmon and steelhead production in the watershed. Personnel from United States Geological Survey's Columbia River Research Laboratory (USGS-CRRL) attend to three main objectives of the Rattlesnake Creek project. The first is to characterize stream and riparian habitat conditions. This effort includes measures of water quality, water quantity, stream habitat, and riparian conditions. The second objective is to determine the status of fish populations in the Rattlesnake Creek drainage. To accomplish this, we derived estimates of salmonid population abundance, determined fish species composition, assessed distribution and life history attributes, obtained tissue samples for future genetic analysis, and assessed fish diseases in the watershed. The third objective is to use the collected habitat and fisheries information to help identify and prioritize areas in need of restoration. As this report covers the first year of a three-year study, this report is restricted to describing our work on the first two objectives only.