Salmon seem eager to return to Spring Creek

Spring Creek, a small tributary to Clear Creek in the Clackamas River basin, once provided fertile spawning grounds for coho salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. However, a series of old culverts passing under roads made it difficult for fish to return to the gravel beds of their birth.

But the creek’s fish remained determined to reach their instinctive goal. A recent survey found a handful of juvenile coho and cutthroat trout still in the creek, indicating it wasn’t too late to restore healthy habitats to Spring Creek.

That’s when residents of Estacada’s Cedarhurst neighborhood decided to work together and help the fish make their ancient journey home.

To help improve creek habitat, logs and root wads were place in Spring Creek and provide additional cover for coho salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout.

Culverts often pose a problem for fish ascending a stream to spawn. The outlet may be situated too high for fish to jump into, or water may rush through with more force than fish can overcome. Spring Creek had several such culverts.

With a $20,400 grant from Portland General Electric’s Habitat Support customers, concerned neighbors teamed up with the Clackamas River Basin Council, local property owners and others to remove the problem culverts. Habitat Support funds are administered by The Nature Conservancy.

Several logs and root wads were also placed in the stream to provide cover for fish. And native trees are being planted along the stream bank to add more shade, helping keep water cooler during the summer.

“The overall goal was to open up fish passage in the creek,” said Bernadette Graham Hudson, a stream restoration biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who helped oversee the project. “The woody debris we have added will increase the diversity of habitat in the stream.”

All that work paid off more quickly than expected. A month after the project was completed in October 2006, Hudson got a call from a Cedarhurst resident reporting that adult salmon were in the stream. When she went to investigate, she found nine spawning coho salmon.

“To have that many fish spawning in the creek so soon is gratifying,” said Hudson. “It’s icing on the cake.”

Every PGE renewable power customer can add Habitat Support to their renewable option for only $2.50 per month.