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Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Restoring Streams Decreases Sediment Levels and Improves Fish Habitat
in Middle Tepee Creek
Waterbody Improved
Excessive sedimentation from eroding forest roads impacted cold-
water aquatic life in Idaho's Middle 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. In this section of stream and upstream in the watershed, these activities 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 Middle Tepee
Creek assessment unit from the state's list of impaired waters in 2012 for sediment.
Problem
The Middle Tepee Creek watershed is in the
headwaters of the North Fork Coeur d'Aiene
River Subbasin in the northern Rocky Mountains
of Idaho. Most of the watershed is managed by
the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, but some
of the land is privately owned. The Middle Tepee
Creek assessment unit (ID17010301PN020 _ 03)
includes the main stem of Tepee Creek between
Short Creek and Trail Creek (Figure 1). The stream's
headwaters and tributaries are designated as a
separate assessment unit (Upper Tepee Creek,
ID17010301PN020 _ 02).
intensive timber harvesting and associated road-
building occurred in the watershed from the 1930s
to the 1990s. Culvert failures and eroding roads (par-
ticularly 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 Middle Tepee Creek assessment unit
(a total of 4.6 miles) was added to the 1994 CWA
section 303(d) list The suspected source of excess
sediment was erosion from forest roads.
in 1996 DEQ conducted biological monitoring under
the Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program (BURP)
at two sites in Tepee Creek. BURP resuits showed
that both sites did not qualify as fully supporting
the cold-water aquatic life beneficial use, confirm-
ing that the creek should remain listed as impaired
by sediment. A 2001 subbasin assessment further
Figure 1. Idaho's Middle Tepee Creek assessment unit
includes the mainstem of Tepee Creek.
confirmed the sediment impairment based on avail-
able biological data and riffle armor stability index
values.
In 2001, DEQ completed sediment total maximum
daily loads (TMDLs) for the North Fork Coeur
d'Aiene River Subbasin, which included the Middle
Tepee Creek assessment unit. The TMDL estab-
lished a sediment reduction target of 1.5 times the
natural background annual sediment load to support
cold-water aquatic life.
Halsey Creek
Little Elk Creek
Middle Tepee Creek
Assessment Unit
#ID17010301PN020 03
North Fork
Coeur d'Aiene
Watershed

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Figure 2. The Tepee Creek
Meadows Restoration Project
included reconstruction
of stream meanders (blue)
where the stream had been
channelized (orange).
Figure 3. Middle Tepee
Creek after reconstruction
of meanders and
revegetation, 2008.
Project Highlights
Beginning in the mid-1990s, the USFS restored
86 eroding stream crossings and removed 47 miles
of eroding forest roads that were impacting the head-
water tributaries of Tepee Creek. In the fall of 2000,
USFS initiated the Tepee Creek Meadows Restoration
Project, a major stream restoration effort along the
mainstem of Tepee Creek. The project restored
fish habitat and riparian function along a 7,200-foot
degraded section of the creek and adjacent meadow
complex. Past land management efforts on this
portion of Tepee Creek had stripped the vegetation
from the flood plain and channelized the stream. The
restoration project re-established a natural stream
channel and incorporated materials such as boulders,
trees and rootwads to stabilize streambanks and
improve fish habitat. Eighteen constructed meanders
improved fish habitat by increasing pool frequency,
depth and volume (Figures 2 and 3).
Results
In 2008 DEQ worked with the North Fork Coeur
d'Alene River Watershed 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
in the Tepee Creek watershed.
To validate the modeled results, USFS and DEQ
conducted biological monitoring on Tepee 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 in Tepee Creek just upstream of Big Eik
Creek in 2009 showed an average score of 2.7, which
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 in Tepee 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 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 mainstem of Middle Tepee Creek fully supports
cold-water aquatic life with respect to sediment. As
a result, DEQ has proposed to remove the Middle
Tepee Creek assessment unit (4.6 miles) from the
state's list of impaired waters in 2012 for sediment.
The assessment unit will remain listed for tem-
perature 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 and the North Fork Coeur
d'Alene River WAG. USFS spent approximately
$350,000 in funding collected from timber sale
receipts on restoration projects in the Middle
Tepee Creek watershed. The Idaho Department of
Transportation contributed $30,000 in wetland miti-
gation dollars to support the Tepee Creek Meadows
Restoration Project The North Idaho Fly Casters
provided thousands of hours of volunteer service
for the Tepee Creek Meadows project.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-12-001DD
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

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