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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
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Watershed Restoration Decreases Sediment Levels and Improves Fish
Habitat in Upper Tepee Creek
fefltarbrsdv Im nrnviri Excessive sedimentation from eroding forest roads impacted
Y " L'^ cold-water aquatic lire in Idaho's Upper Tepee Creek. As a result,
the waterbody assessment unit was added to the state's 1994 Clean Water Act (CWA) section
303(d) list of impaired waters for sediment. Since the 1990s, watershed stakeholders, led by
the U.S. Forest Service-Idaho Panhandle National Forests (USFS), have removed or repaired
failing roads and restored stream habitat. These activities have greatly reduced sediment levels,
improved aquatic habitat and enhanced an important cutthroat trout fishery. As a result, the
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has proposed to remove the Upper Tepee
Creek assessment unit from the state's list of impaired waters in 2012 for sediment.
Problem
The Upper Tepee Creek watershed is in the
headwaters of the North Fork Coeur d'Alene River
Subbasin in the northern Rocky Mountains of
Idaho The watershed lies within the boundaries of
the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, but some
of the land is privately owned. The Upper Tepee
Creek assessment unit (ID17010301PN020 _ 02)
includes the watershed's first- and second-order
streams (Figure 1).
Intensive timber harvesting and associated road-
building occurred in the watershed from the 1930s
to the 1990s. Culvert failures and eroding roads
(particularly at stream crossings and in riparian
areas) contributed large amounts of sediment to
streams. In the early 1990s, riffle stability studies
and other habitat data were used to determine
that cold-water aquatic life was impaired due to
sediment; as a result, the assessment unit (a total
of 49 miles) was added to the 1994 CWA section
303(d) list. The suspected source of excess sedi-
ment was erosion from forest roads.
Figure 1. Idaho's UpperTepee Creek assessment unit
Includes the watershed's first- and second-order streams,
totaling 49 miles. (Note: some smaller tributaries comprising
assessment unit do not appear on map).
In 1996 DEQ conducted biological monitoring under
the Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program (BURP)
at two sites in Big Elk Creek. BURP data showed a
low diversity of macroinvertebrates in upper Big Elk
Creek, confirming that the streams should remain
listed as impaired by sediment. A 2001 subbasin
assessment further confirmed the sediment impair-
ment based on available biological data and riffle
armor stability index values.
In 2001, DEQ completed sediment total maximum
daily loads (TMDLs) for the North Fork Coeur
d'Alene River Subbasin, which included the Upper
Tepee Creek assessment unit. The TMDL estab-
lished a sediment load target of 1.5 times the
natural background sediment load, which meant
that sediment loads needed to be reduced by
approximately 21 percent to support cold-water
aquatic life.
Halsey Creek
Little Elk Creek
Big Elk Creek
Upper Tepee Creek
Assessment Unit
#ID17010301 PN020_02
North Fork
Coeur d'Alene
Watershed

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Figure 2. Project partners replaced an undersized culvert that had
partially blocked fish passage (left) with a bridge (right) on lower
Short Creek in 2010.
Project Highlights
Beginning in the 1990s, the USFS and its partners
implemented numerous restoration projects. The
USFS restored 17 stream crossings on 12 miles
of road in the Big Elk Creek tributary watershed.
In 1999 and 2000, the USFS decommissioned an
additional 35 miles of road and treated 69 channel
crossings. The projects included planting trees and
placing woody debris at stream crossings and on
treated roads.
Restoration continued into 2010 along tributaries
to Upper Tepee Creek (Riley and Short creeks). The
USFS and the North Idaho Fly Casters, with the
support of other partners, led a project to decom-
mission 18 miles of road, remove 19 culvert cross-
ings, plant riparian areas and improve in-stream
habitat (Figure 2). The projects reduced the amount
of sediment and, in some cases, removed barriers
to upstream spawning habitat.
Results
in 2008 DEQ worked with the North Fork Coeur
d'Alene River YA/atershed Advisory Group (WAG)
and the USFS to review the subbasin's sediment
TMDLs. Because stakeholders had performed
extensive restoration and TMDL implementa-
tion work in Upper Tepee Creek, project partners
identified the need for post-project monitoring to
assess water quality improvement. DEQ and USFS
used modeling and geographic information system
analyses to estimate the sediment load reductions
achieved since the TMDLs were established. The
model suggested that restoration projects reduced
the estimated annual sediment load by 22 percent,
exceeding the target of 21 percent prescribed by
the TMDL
To validate the modeled results, USFS and DEQ
conducted biological monitoring on Big Elk Creek
in 2009. Crews used DEQ's BURP protocols and
USFS' PACFISH/INFISH Biological Opinion (PIBO)
Effectiveness Monitoring Program protocols to
collect information about the biological, chemical
and physical condition of the streams. BURP data
collected near the mouth of Big Elk Creek In 2009
yielded an average score of 2.0. The site meets the
minimum average score of 2.0 required to support
cold-water aquatic life according to DEQ's Water
Body Assessment Guidance.
Macroinvertebrate sampling collected in 2009 in
Big Elk Creek showed good diversity and included
species associated with cold, clear mountain
streams. Fish surveys detected westslope cutthroat
trout and sculpin, both native species associated
with good water quality. Fish population monitoring
conducted by the Idaho Department of Fish and
Game in Upper Tepee Creek has shown an increase
in cutthroat trout densities in the past 10 years—
from almost no fish in 2001 to more than 1.5 fish per
100 square meters in 2011.
Modeling and post-restoration data indicate that the
streams in the Upper Tepee Creek assessment unit
fully support cold-water aquatic life with respect to
sediment. As a result, DEQ has proposed to remove
the Upper Tepee Creek assessment unit (49 miles)
from the state's list of impaired waters in 2012 for
sediment. The assessment unit will remain listed
for temperature impairment, although the riparian
planting projects of the past decade should help to
increase shade in the future.
Partners and Funding
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 (EPA) and the North Fork Coeur
d'Alene River WAG. Multiple partners provided
funds to restore the headwater tributaries of Tepee
Creek, including the USFS ($195,000 in funding
collected from timber sale receipts), the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($55,090), the Idaho
Department of Fish and Game ($180,000), North
Idaho Fly Casters, EPA's CWA section 319 program
($20,000), the National interagency Fire Center (in-
kind and matching funds: $13,333), and a combina-
tion of the President's Fund (special funding for
watershed restoration work) and special appropri-
ated watershed funds ($106,000).
i O
Ill
u
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-12-001CC
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 Jarnes, Idaho Panhandle National Forests
Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District
208-769-3030 • cjjames@fs.fed.us

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