Schaake Side Channel Restoration Project: Difference between revisions
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== Schaake | == Schaake Floodplain Restoration Project Overview == | ||
The Yakima River Basin was historically a productive salmon river with broad, sweeping floodplains that provided ample off-channel habitat for juvenile salmon. This productivity was strongly tied to floodplain processes, which created and maintained side-channel areas that juvenile salmon used for rearing. These areas provided lower water velocities, refugia from predators, and more invertebrate prey relative to the mainstem. Together these benefits resulted in greater juvenile salmon growth and survival potential. The need to restore these floodplain habitats in the Yakima Basin was first recognized in the early 2000’s through work funded by Reclamation and summarized in the Reaches Project (Stanford et al. 2002). The report emphasized the importance of off-channel habitats and the need for restoring normative flows. | The Yakima River Basin was historically a productive salmon river with broad, sweeping floodplains that provided ample off-channel habitat for juvenile salmon. This productivity was strongly tied to floodplain processes, which created and maintained side-channel areas that juvenile salmon used for rearing. These areas provided lower water velocities, refugia from predators, and more invertebrate prey relative to the mainstem. Together these benefits resulted in greater juvenile salmon growth and survival potential. The need to restore these floodplain habitats in the Yakima Basin was first recognized in the early 2000’s through work funded by the US Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and summarized in the Reaches Project ([https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/828280 Stanford et al. 2002]). The report emphasized the importance of off-channel habitats and the need for restoring normative flows. | ||
== Schaake Project Monitoring == | == Schaake Project Fish Monitoring == | ||
Over a century of structural modifications, including levee construction and gravel pit mining disconnected the river from its floodplain throughout much of the upper Yakima Basin. The river reach the Schaake project is located in was heavily modified by levees including one, constructed in 1930, that was 7,600 ft long. Side channels were warm, stagnant, pools that were disconnected from the mainstem. The lack of shade from riparian vegetation further exacerbated water temperatures, and sediment berms restricted fish access to the few remaining side channels. In 2003, Reclamation took the lead in acquiring | Over a century of structural modifications, including levee construction and gravel pit mining disconnected the river from its floodplain throughout much of the upper Yakima Basin. The river reach the Schaake project is located in was heavily modified by levees including one, constructed in 1930, that was 7,600 ft long. Side channels were warm, stagnant, pools that were disconnected from the mainstem. The lack of shade from riparian vegetation further exacerbated water temperatures, and sediment berms restricted fish access to the few remaining side channels. In 2003, Reclamation took the lead in acquiring the Schaake property and associated surface water rights near Ellensburg, Washington at a cost of $3.25 million (Figure 1). Prior to being acquired, the 280-acre site was used as a feedlot and packing house. Today, the Schaake Habitat Improvement Project is one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the Yakima River Basin, reconnecting 130 acres of floodplain along a 2-mile reach of the upper Yakima River. The project, located at about river mile 152 of the Yakima River, created 1.8 miles of perennial side channels and installed log structures to help maintain the floodplain. The work removed about a mile of levee, recontoured the floodplain, enhanced side channels, and re-established native riparian vegetation. | ||
[[File:Schaake Site Map with Monitoring and Fish Sites.png|none|thumb|726x726px|Figure 1. Map of the Yakima River Basin showing location of PIT antennas within the Schaake restoration site and release locations of PIT tagged fish.]] | [[File:Schaake Site Map with Monitoring and Fish Sites.png|none|thumb|726x726px|Figure 1. Map of the Yakima River Basin showing location of PIT antennas within the Schaake restoration site and release locations of PIT tagged fish.]] | ||
To evaluate fish use of the site | To evaluate fish use of the restored site, the USFWS installed PIT antennas (Figure 2, top) which operated continuously from 2023 to 2025 and fished fyke nets during two 24-hour periods in June 2023 and a single 24-hour period in May 2024 (Figure 2, bottom). PIT antennas were installed at three locations in the restored side channels (Figure 1; inset). Antennas detected fish that had been released at various sites in the upper Yakima Basin. Since 2023, 256 fish have been detected at the Schaake site. Seventy-five percent of the detected fish were juvenile hatchery Coho Salmon released about 1.5 miles upstream into Reecer Creek or in various sites on the mainstem Yakima River (Figure 3). Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon, most of which were hatchery reared, accounted for 21% of fish. The 12 remaining fish were wild ''O''. ''mykiss'' with an unknown migratory status. | ||
[[File:PIT antenna and Fyke Net Monitoring.png|thumb|733x733px|Figure 2. Pass through type PIT antenna (top) and fyke net (bottom) used to detect and collect fish in restored side channels at the Schaake restoration site. |left]] | [[File:PIT antenna and Fyke Net Monitoring.png|thumb|733x733px|Figure 2. Pass through type PIT antenna (top) and fyke net (bottom) used to detect and collect fish in restored side channels at the Schaake restoration site. |left]] | ||
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Eleven fish taxa were collected using the fyke nets in 2023 and 2024. While juvenile Chinook | The USFWS also used fyke nets to collect and measure fish from the site on June 6 and 7, 2023 and May 21, 2024.Eleven fish taxa were collected using the fyke nets in 2023 and 2024. While juvenile Coho and Chinook Salmon were the primary salmonids collected, Three-spined Stickleback and unidentified Suckers dominated the overall fish community, (Table 1). Predominately these salmon were smaller juvenile Coho and Chinook salmon representing two year classes, one with an average size of 66 mm fork length (range: 32-90 mm) and another that ranged in size from 135 - 170 mm (mean:149 mm). We also collected a single Pond Loach, a species native to Eastern Asia, including Siberia, Vietnam, and Japan. The rare fish was euthanized and reported to the USFWS invasive species coordinator, but apparently was not the first sighting of a Pond Loach in the upper Yakima River. Side channels are mostly intermittently watered and therefore limit fish use at lower river elevations. The floodplain itself is mostly dewatered upland that is only activated at that is activated at Yakima River discharges exceeding 6699 cfs (cubic feet per second, QD) as measured at Reclamation's hydromet site at Ellensburg ([https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/yakima/yakwebarcread.html ELNW]). Based on these projections, the floodplain on average, will only activate about 6 days per year and will not activate in a given year about 25% of the time. Data collected thus far indicates that the restored property is providing habitat for both hatchery reared and wild juvenile salmon and the broader native fish community. Absent from the project are any juvenile Sockeye Salmon originating from Cle Elum Reservoir. Ultimately, restoration is beginning to provide essential side channel habitat and reconnecting the upper Yakima River to its floodplain. The USFWS will continue PIT tag monitoring but no further netting is planned. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| colspan="3" |Table 1. Fish collected from the Schaake Restoration site using fyke nets on June 7-8, 2023 and May 21, 2024. | | colspan="3" |Table 1. Fish collected from the Schaake Restoration site using fyke nets on June 7-8, 2023 and May 21, 2024. | ||
Latest revision as of 14:59, 15 October 2025
Schaake Floodplain Restoration Project Overview
The Yakima River Basin was historically a productive salmon river with broad, sweeping floodplains that provided ample off-channel habitat for juvenile salmon. This productivity was strongly tied to floodplain processes, which created and maintained side-channel areas that juvenile salmon used for rearing. These areas provided lower water velocities, refugia from predators, and more invertebrate prey relative to the mainstem. Together these benefits resulted in greater juvenile salmon growth and survival potential. The need to restore these floodplain habitats in the Yakima Basin was first recognized in the early 2000’s through work funded by the US Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and summarized in the Reaches Project (Stanford et al. 2002). The report emphasized the importance of off-channel habitats and the need for restoring normative flows.
Schaake Project Fish Monitoring
Over a century of structural modifications, including levee construction and gravel pit mining disconnected the river from its floodplain throughout much of the upper Yakima Basin. The river reach the Schaake project is located in was heavily modified by levees including one, constructed in 1930, that was 7,600 ft long. Side channels were warm, stagnant, pools that were disconnected from the mainstem. The lack of shade from riparian vegetation further exacerbated water temperatures, and sediment berms restricted fish access to the few remaining side channels. In 2003, Reclamation took the lead in acquiring the Schaake property and associated surface water rights near Ellensburg, Washington at a cost of $3.25 million (Figure 1). Prior to being acquired, the 280-acre site was used as a feedlot and packing house. Today, the Schaake Habitat Improvement Project is one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the Yakima River Basin, reconnecting 130 acres of floodplain along a 2-mile reach of the upper Yakima River. The project, located at about river mile 152 of the Yakima River, created 1.8 miles of perennial side channels and installed log structures to help maintain the floodplain. The work removed about a mile of levee, recontoured the floodplain, enhanced side channels, and re-established native riparian vegetation.
To evaluate fish use of the restored site, the USFWS installed PIT antennas (Figure 2, top) which operated continuously from 2023 to 2025 and fished fyke nets during two 24-hour periods in June 2023 and a single 24-hour period in May 2024 (Figure 2, bottom). PIT antennas were installed at three locations in the restored side channels (Figure 1; inset). Antennas detected fish that had been released at various sites in the upper Yakima Basin. Since 2023, 256 fish have been detected at the Schaake site. Seventy-five percent of the detected fish were juvenile hatchery Coho Salmon released about 1.5 miles upstream into Reecer Creek or in various sites on the mainstem Yakima River (Figure 3). Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon, most of which were hatchery reared, accounted for 21% of fish. The 12 remaining fish were wild O. mykiss with an unknown migratory status.
The USFWS also used fyke nets to collect and measure fish from the site on June 6 and 7, 2023 and May 21, 2024.Eleven fish taxa were collected using the fyke nets in 2023 and 2024. While juvenile Coho and Chinook Salmon were the primary salmonids collected, Three-spined Stickleback and unidentified Suckers dominated the overall fish community, (Table 1). Predominately these salmon were smaller juvenile Coho and Chinook salmon representing two year classes, one with an average size of 66 mm fork length (range: 32-90 mm) and another that ranged in size from 135 - 170 mm (mean:149 mm). We also collected a single Pond Loach, a species native to Eastern Asia, including Siberia, Vietnam, and Japan. The rare fish was euthanized and reported to the USFWS invasive species coordinator, but apparently was not the first sighting of a Pond Loach in the upper Yakima River. Side channels are mostly intermittently watered and therefore limit fish use at lower river elevations. The floodplain itself is mostly dewatered upland that is only activated at that is activated at Yakima River discharges exceeding 6699 cfs (cubic feet per second, QD) as measured at Reclamation's hydromet site at Ellensburg (ELNW). Based on these projections, the floodplain on average, will only activate about 6 days per year and will not activate in a given year about 25% of the time. Data collected thus far indicates that the restored property is providing habitat for both hatchery reared and wild juvenile salmon and the broader native fish community. Absent from the project are any juvenile Sockeye Salmon originating from Cle Elum Reservoir. Ultimately, restoration is beginning to provide essential side channel habitat and reconnecting the upper Yakima River to its floodplain. The USFWS will continue PIT tag monitoring but no further netting is planned.
| Table 1. Fish collected from the Schaake Restoration site using fyke nets on June 7-8, 2023 and May 21, 2024. | ||
| Fish Taxa | 2023 Count | 2024 Count |
| Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) | 95 | 65 |
| Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) | 32 | 54 |
| Unidentified Dace (Rhinichthys spp.) | 69 | 27 |
| Northern Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) | 32 | 27 |
| Redside Shiners (Richardsonius balteatus) | 48 | 29 |
| Unidentified Sculpin (Cottus spp.) | 27 | 11 |
| Three-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) | 500+ | 221 |
| Unidentified Suckers (Catostomus spp.) | 295 | 231 |
| Mountain Whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) | 3 | 1 |
| Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) | 0 | 1 |
| Pond Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) | 0 | 1 |