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(Jk) NONPOINT SOIREE SICEESS STORY
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Watershed Restoration Decreases Sediment Levels and Improves Fish
Habitat in the Shoshone Creek Headwaters
Waterbody IrnprON/ed ln the ear,y 1990s' u-s- Forest Service (USFS) data indicated that
excessive sedimentation from eroding forest roads impacted
cold water aquatic life in Idaho's upper Shoshone Creek watershed. In 1994 the Idaho Department
of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added the Shoshone Creek Headwaters and Tributaries Above
Falls Creek assessment unit (AU) to Idaho's list of impaired waters for sediment, A combination
of restoration activities and natural recovery has improved water quality conditions in the upper
Shoshone Creek watershed. Watershed stakeholders, led by the USFS, have worked to remove or
repair failing roads and restore stream habitat. Over time, these activities have reduced sediment
levels, improved aquatic habitat and enhanced an important cutthroat trout fishery. As a result, DEQ
intends to remove the AU from the state's next list of impaired waters for sediment.
Problem
Shoshone Creek is within the boundaries of the Idaho
Panhandle National Forest. It is a headwaters tribu-
tary of the North Fork Coeur d'Alene (NFCDA) River
Subbasin in the northern Rocky Mountains. In the early
1990s, USFS riffle stability studies and other habitat
data indicated that cold water aquatic iife in streams
within the Shoshone Creek watershed was impaired
due to sediment. On the basis of those data, DEQ
added the Shoshone Creek Headwaters and Tributaries
Above Fails Creek AU (ID17010301PN012_02; 46.87
miles) to Idaho's 1994 list of impaired waters for
sediment (Figure 1). In 2001 DEQ completed an
assessment and total maximum daily loads for the
NFCDA Subbasin (which includes the Shoshone Creek
watershed), which indicated that the AU should
remain on the impaired waters list. The 2001 Subbasin
Assessment cited forest management and forest roads
as major sources of sediment causing impairment.
Story Highlights
Partners have been conducting restoration work in
the upper Shoshone Creek watershed for more than
20 years. USFS placed woody debris in two tributar-
ies (Rampike Creek, 1998; Clinton Creek, 1999), and
added instream structures in Clinton Creek in 1999.
This woody debris provided crevices and branches
that forced the water to shift direction and velocity,
dropping silt in quiet places and removing it from riffle
Figure 1. Idaho's Shoshone Creek Headwaters and
Tributaries assessment unit includes the watershed's
first- and second-order streams.
areas. It also helped to dissipate the energy of rush-
ing water that could otherwise lead to the erosion
of stream banks. USFS also removed many eroding
culverts and closed over 38 miles of eroding roads and
trails in the watershed in 2001-2006 (Table 1).
Idaho
Shoshone Creek Headwaters
Assessment Unit
		 ID17010301PN012 02
North Fork
Coeur d'Alene
Subbasin

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Table 1. Roads and culverts removed in the Upper
Shoshone Creek watershed.
Tributary name
Year
completed
Road miles
removed
Culvert pipes
removed
Hells Gulch
2001
1.3
2
Tent, Ulm, and
Windfall creeks
2006
13.4
13
Clinton Creek
1997
8.4
16
Rampike Creek
1997
15.3
18
Results
Recent data indicate that upper Shoshone Creek sup-
ports its cold water aquatic life beneficial use and that
sediment is no longer causing an Impairment. In 2015
DEQ conducted biological monitoring (through its
Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program) at two sites
within the Shoshone Creek watershed. The overall
average BURP multimetric index condition for the first
site, Little Lost Fork Creek, was 2.67, while the average
score for the second site, Shoshone Creek, was 2.00
(Table 2). According to section 6 of DEQ's 2016 Water
Body Assessment Guidance, an average BURP score of
greater than or equal to 2.0 indicates full support of
cold water aquatic life. Macroinvertebrates samples
included numerous EPT (ephemeroptera [mayflies],
piecoptera [stoneflies] and trichoptera [caddisflies])
that are associated with cold, clear mountain streams.
Other 2015 data also indicate beneficial use support. A
fish survey detected sculpin and cutthroat trout, native
species associated with good water quality. Physical
habitat conditions were good, with low percent fine
sediments, high bank cover, and high bankstability
(Figure 2). Because data show that sediment no longer
impairs the cold water aquatic life use in the Shoshone
Creek Headwaters and Tributaries AU, DEQ is propos-
ing to remove it from Idaho's next impaired waters list.
Figure 2. Monitoring in 2015 showed that Shoshone
Creek now carries low percent fine sediments and has
developed stable, vegetated stream banks, all of which
promote healthy aquatic habitat.
Partners and Funding
The USFS Coeur d'Aiene River Ranger District led the
effort to plan and implement watershed restora-
tion projects. DEQ's Coeur d Alene regional office
conducted monitoring and led the assessment of the
NFCDA Subbasin. The NFCDA Watershed Advisory
Group (consisting of interested citizens, local govern-
ment, and resource management agencies and other
stakeholders) meets multiple times per year to plan
and implement water quality improvement projects
for watersheds within the NFCDA Subbasin, including
Shoshone Creek. USFS and its partners developed a
Coeur d'Aiene River Corridor Management Plan in
2012.
The Shoshone Creek AU restoration effort cost an
estimated $300,000, which was supported by funds
from the timber sale receipts (Knutson-Vandenberg
Program funds) and other USFS sources.
Table 2. Upper Shoshone Creek 2015 assessment data.
BURP Multimetric Index Scores1
Site 1 (2015SCDAA003)
Site 2 (2015SCDAA004)
Stream Macroinvertebrate Index 2
3.00
1.00
Stream Fish Index 2
2.00
3.00
Stream Habitat Index 2
3.00
2.00
Average BURP Score
2.67
2.00
1 DEQ's 2016 Water Body Assessment Guidance Average BURP (Beneficial Use Reconnaissance
Program) score >2.0 indicates full support of cold water quality life beneficial use.
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©
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-Q01SS
December 2018
For additional information contact:
Kajsa Eagle Van de Riet
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
208-769-1422 • kajsa.vanderiet@deq.idaho.gov
Dan Sea if e
Idaho Panhandle National Forest
208-664-2318 • dscaife@fs.fed.us

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