Clear Creek Gravel Augmentations, 1996-2021

Clear Creek Anadromous Fish Habitat Restoration and Management Project (aka “Gravel Augmentations”), 1996-2021 The purpose of the Clear Creek Gravel Augmentation Project (the Project) is to improve habitat conditions in Lower Clear Creek for anadromous salmonid species, including spring-run, fall-run, and late fall-run Chinook salmon, and Central Valley steelhead. This programmatic effort was formally titled Lower Clear Creek Anadromous Fish Habitat Restoration and Management Project (LCCAFHRMP), though “gravel augmentations” remains the most commonly use name for the project. The Project is implemented annually to improve fish habitat by placing gravel and other desirable materials into the stream channel with the intent of restoring and maintaining the balance of sediment in Clear Creek, providing desirable creek channel attributes like floodplain connectivity, channel migration, fish habitat formation (e.g. spawning habitat), and supporting riparian community development. The Project is proposed to meet the requirements of the CVPIA 3406 (b)(12) which has identified the lack of in-stream spawning gravel as a significant factor limiting anadromous fish reproduction in Clear Creek. The Clear Creek Gravel Augmentation Project consists of adding clean (washed), size-sorted natural river gravel directly (riffle supplementation) or indirectly (talus cone, lateral berm) into the Clear Creek channel, along with other desirable materials (i.e., large wood and boulders). The project is funded by the CVPIA. Each year, the Clear Creek Technical Team chooses the top priority gravel augmentation sites for implementations.