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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Removing Roads and Restoring Streams Improves Steamboat Creek
Water bach f lmDTDV©d ^roc^n3 f°res1: roads contributed excessive sediment to
northern Idaho's Steamboat Creek, damaging aquatic habitat
and impairing cold-water aquatic life such as the native vvestslope cutthroat trout. As a result.
Steamboat Creek was added to the state's 1994 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list for
sediment impairment. Beginning in 1992, the U.S. Forest Service-Idaho Panhandle National
Forests (USFS) removed or repaired failing roads, restored riparian areas and implemented
in-stream habitat improvement projects. Sediment loads in Steamboat Creek have declined,
and monitoring results show that sediment no longer impairs cold-water aquatic life. Therefore,
the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has proposed to remove a seven-mile-
long segment of Steamboat Creek from the state's list of impaired waters in 2012 for sediment.
Problem
Steamboat Creek is in the North Fork Coeur d'Aiene
River Sub basin, which drains the west flank of
Idaho's Bitterroot Mountain Range in the northern
Rocky Mountains (Figure 1). Idaho Panhandle
National Forests manages nearly all of the
Steamboat Creek watershed.
Intensive timber harvest and road building occurred
through much of the North Fork Coeur d'Aiene River
Subbasin from 1890 until the early 2000s. A dense
network of roads was constructed, including some
roads spaced 300 feet apart across hillsides to
accommodate "jammer logging," a system in which
logs are pulled with cables from the cutting area
to a collection point. Access roads were often built
directly adjacent to streams, which led to heavy
sediment loading into the waterbodies from forest
roads. Even after active logging ceased, runoff and
floodwaters continued to erode and wash out roads,
particularly those near or adjacent to streams.
Water quality investigations in the early 1990s
suggested that sediment inputs were impairing
cold-water aquatic life in Steamboat Creek. As a
result. Steamboat Creek (seven stream miles) was
added to the 1994 CWA section 303(d) list for sedi-
ment. To confirm impairment, in 1996 DEQ con-
ducted biological monitoring under the Beneficial
Use Reconnaissance Program (BURP). The data
showed a low diversity of macroinvertebrates at
a site near the mouth of the creek, confirming
that the stream did not fully support cold-water
aquatic life and should remain listed as impaired
Figure 1. Idaho's Steamboat Creek assessment unit (seven
stream miles) includes the main stem of Steamboat Creek
and a portion of West Fork Steamboat Creek upstream to the
confluence with Comfy Creek.
by sediment. In 2001 DEQ completed sediment
total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for the North
Fork Coeur d'Aiene River Subbasin, which identi-
fied erosion from forest roads as the subbasin's
largest sediment source. The TMDL established
a sediment load target of 1.5 times the natural
background sediment load in the Steamboat Creek
watershed, which meant that sediment loads
needed to be reduced by approximately 53 percent
to support cold-water aquatic life.
Steamboat Creek
	 Assessment Unit
#ID17010301 PN028_03
North Fork
Coeur d'Aiene
Watershed

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Project Highlights
In 1988 the USFS launched the Steamboat Creek
watershed restoration project beginning with
an intensive inventory of all roads and potential
sediment sources. In 1992, the USFS removed
74 channel crossings and treated 41 miles of roads
in the headwaters and 3.7 miles of roads in ripar-
ian areas within the East Fork Steamboat Creek
watershed. USFS restored the streambanks and
riparian areas, placed 500 logs in the channel and
used 300 cubic yards of boulders to construct
pool-forming structures. The structures: (1) helped
to stabilize the stream by providing additional
grade control and (2) created cold-water aquatic
life habitat by providing cover (hiding places) and
increased channel complexity (different types of
habitat in the same area). USFS planted approxi-
mately 3,850 shrubs and trees in riparian areas.
Between 1992 and 2007, USFS removed additional
eroding forest roads in East Fork Steamboat Creek,
for a total of 68 miles (Figure 2). Beginning in the
early 1990s and continuing until 2010, USFS also
completed extensive road removal and restoration
work in the West Fork Steamboat Creek watershed
and along the main stem Steamboat Creek.
Results
In 2008 DEQ and USFS initiated a state-mandated
TMDL five-year review of Steamboat Creek and other
watersheds within the North Fork Coeur d'Alene
River Subbasin. Initially, the partners performed
modeling and geographic information system analy-
ses to evaluate which watersheds with extensive
restoration work likely had made significant progress
toward meeting the sediment TMDL goals. The
model indicated that sediment loads in Steamboat
Creek had declined by an estimated 43 percent
between 1986 and 2007 (close to the TMDL goal of
53 percent reduction), which prompted further study.
In the second phase of the TMDL review, DEQ and
USFS verified modeling results in eight watersheds
(including Steamboat Creek watershed) using DEQ's
BURP assessment and USFS' PACFISH/INFISH
Biological Opinion (PIBO) Effectiveness Monitoring
Program protocols. BURP data collected in East
Fork Steamboat Creek in 2009 showed that the
creek had an average BURP index score of 3.0, well
above the minimum average BURP index score of
2,0 that is required to indicate support of cold-water
aquatic life. Macroinvertebrate sampling showed an
increase in diversity and included species associ-
ated with cold, clear mountain streams. The fish
survey detected sculpin, westslope cutthroat trout
Figure 2. Road density declined following road removal in the
East Fork Steamboat Creek watershed.
and longnose dace—all native species associated
with good water quality. These data in the headwa-
ters, combined with 2003 and 2007 DEQ BURP data
on the main stem Steamboat Creek demonstrate
improvements in water quality and aquatic life.
These data were further confirmed by the PIBO
data collected on physical habitat, temperature
and macroinvertebrates, which indicate that the
Steamboat Creek assessment unit fully supports
cold-water aquatic life with respect to sediment.
On the basis of these data, DEQ has proposed to
remove Steamboat Creek from the state's list of
impaired waters in 2012 for sediment. Steamboat
Creek remains listed as impaired for temperature.
Partners and Funding
USFS spent nearly $1 million collected from timber
sale receipts (a funding source established by the
Knudtsen-Vandenberg Act) and USFS-appropriated
funds on restoration projects in the Steamboat
Creek watershed. Numerous partners collabo-
rated with USFS on planning and implementation,
including the Army Corps of Engineers, Idaho
Department of Water Resources, Idaho Department
of Fish and Game, DEQ, North Idaho Fly Casters
and the Kootenai Environmental Alliance. Partners
in the TMDL five-year review included the USFS
Idaho Panhandle National Forests Coeur d'Alene
River Ranger District, the USFS PIBO Effectiveness
Monitoring Program, DEQ's Coeur d'Alene Regional
Office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and the North Fork Coeur d'Alene River Watershed
Advisory Group.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-11-001RR
August 2012
For additional information contact:
Kajsa Eagle Stromberg, Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality, Coeur d'Alene Regional Office
208-769-1422 • kajsa.stromberg@deq.idaho.gov
Chris James, Idaho Panhandle National Forests
Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District
208-769-3030 • cjjames@fs.fed.us
East Fork Steamboat Creek
Before and After Restoration
Legend
—1986 Roads
— Streams
Legend
—	2007 Roads
—	Streams
Pre-Restoration
165 Miles of Road
Post Restoration
97 Miles of Road

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