Background
Rattlesnake Creek is a right bank tributary to the Naches River with most of its watershed residing within the William O. Douglas wilderness. Rattlesnake Creek is home to several species of native fish including spring chinook, coho, and ESA threatened populations of bull trout and steelhead. One of the limiting factors in Rattlesnake Creek is off channel habitat. Off channel habitat is vital to juvenile salmon and trout that need refuge from high flows and larger predators. In 2012, a conservation-minded landowner reconnected a historic side channel on their property. Through a grant from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board the landowner was able to reconnect this side channel to Rattlesnake Creek providing almost one mile of off channel habitat for juvenile salmonids.
Implementation
In 2018, Mid-Columbia Fisheries assisted the private landowner with additional habitat enhancements, constructing seven “beaver dam analogs” (BDAs) in the lower portion of the side channel. BDAs function like natural beaver dams – slowing water, raising water tables, improving riparian plant growth, and creating pools, all which improves habitat for salmonids. Funding for the work was provided by grants from the Department of Ecology and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Mid-Columbia Fisheries also constructed improvements to two fords that allow irrigation users to more easily access the headgate to their irrigation ditch.