DESCRIPTION
The Okanogan River contains summer steelhead, federally listed as 'threatened'. To recover this stock, habitat within tributaries of the Okanogan River need to be rehabilitated. One tributary, Loup Loup Creek (watershed size 63.9 sq mi), has been utilitzed for spawning by summer steelhead as recently as 2010 (B. Miller personal communication, Colville Tribes). Not unlike many tributaries of the Okanogan River, flows in Loup Loup Creek are diverted for agricultural production. Consequently the lowermost 1.0 mile of Loup Loup Creek has been intermittenly disconnected from the Okanogan River since the 1930's. In an effort to reconnect the lower 1.0 mile of Loup Loup Creek, the Colville Tribes and other entities are working with local irrigation associations for a solution to provide continuous flow. In addition to the lack of sufficient flow, at approx RM 0.1 a perched culvert impedes fish passage into Loup Loup Creek. The road (Burdett St) that crosses Loup Loup Ck accesses private residences. This undersized, perched culvert is proposed to be replaced with a bottomless box culvert. At the project site the channel willbe lined with large bed element to reduce incising. A second culvert, located approximately at RM 0.2 (Figure 1), is not perched but is undersized and is an impediment to passage due to exessive velocity. This culvert will be replaced with bottomless-box culvert. Once continuous flow is reestablished and the culverts are replaced 2.2 miles of Loup Loup Creek would be accessible to migrating steelhead.