The Goose Lake Watershed is a semi-arid region that occupies about 1,100 square miles. Goose Lake and its tributary streams support a unique group of native fishes that are adapted to waters relatively high in dissolved salts and alkalinity. Drought is not uncommon to the area and the lake has gone completely dry five times in the last century. The Goose Lake Working Fishes Group was formed 1991 in response to drought from 1987 to 1994. "A proposal was developed to list the entire Goose Lake fish fauna as Threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act. In response, the Goose Lake Fishes Working Group was formed in 1991, made up of representatives from both California and Oregon including private landowners, state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and universities. In 1995, the Goose Lake Fishes Conservation Strategy was completed to help conserve and restore native fishes in the Goose Lake basin." Goose Lake Redband Trout (ca.gov) The projects listed below are aligned with the 1991 response strategy.
Projects in the Goose Lake Basin
Cottonwood Creek Reconnaissance and Design Plan
Cottonwood Creek Reconnaissance and Design Plan
Cottonwood Creek Reconnaissance and Design Plan
- The Technical Assistance project began in 2020 and has led to an implementation agenda and a water conservation study.
- Cottonwood Creek Process-Based Restoration:
- Cottonwood Creek Fish Habitat Restoration.
- Goose Lake Basin Water Conservation Study:
Cottonwood Creek Fish Habitat Restoration
Cottonwood Creek Reconnaissance and Design Plan
Cottonwood Creek Reconnaissance and Design Plan
- The project seeks to improve instream water availability and fish habitat conditions along a 1.5 miles reach of Cottonwood Creek. The project will address eight sites and implement stream habitat treatments to support native aquatic species population, productivity, and abundance in the Goose Lake Basin.
- Status: Implementation planned in 2023
Cottonwood Creek Processed Based Restoration
Cottonwood Creek Reconnaissance and Design Plan
Cottonwood Creek Processed Based Restoration
- We will follow a process-based restoration approach to support post fire water quality, aquatic habitat, channel floodplain connectivity, and wet meadow conditions.
- Wood debris will be used to build beaver dam analogs (BDA) and post-assisted log structures (PALS) along a 3.25 mile-long meadow system of Cottonwood Creek. Beavers are active in the project reach which will sustain the project long term.
- Status:
Three Creeks Beaver Dam Analogs
Drews Creek Fish Passage and Aspen Enhancement
Cottonwood Creek Processed Based Restoration
- The project will to address stream channel degradation that has led to poor riparian and dry meadow conditions on a 600 acre property in the Goose Lake Watershed. Camp Creek and Cox Creek intertwine to join Thomas Creek (Goose Lake's largest tributary) at this site. A process-based restoration strategy using Beaver Dam Analogs will be constructed to slow stream velocities, capture sediment, aggrade the stream channel, and attract beavers to maintain investments made.
Cogswell Creek Fish Passage Project
Drews Creek Fish Passage and Aspen Enhancement
Drews Creek Fish Passage and Aspen Enhancement
- Cogswell Creek Fish Passage project will address the upper most diversion to restore fish passage and water use efficiency along with the replacement of a perched culvert barrier with pre-fabricated steel bridge.
Drews Creek Fish Passage and Aspen Enhancement
Drews Creek Fish Passage and Aspen Enhancement
Drews Creek Fish Passage and Aspen Enhancement
- Technical Assistance has produced an alternatives analysis and a 60% design plan to address fish passage and sustainability of irrigation at the diversion, streambank and riparian restoration solutions, and treatment along the incise creeks adjacent to the aspen grove.
Muddy Creek Fish Passage and Habitat Enhancement
Muddy Creek Fish Passage and Habitat Enhancement
Muddy Creek Fish Passage and Habitat Enhancement
- Phase I was implemented in 2021 with the construction of two fish bypass channels, reactivation of the stream corridor, construction of hardened creek crossings, the addition of large wood, and willow plantings.
- A 5600 ft riparian fence will be constructed in 2022.
- Phase II will provide a 75ft rock ramp/roughened channel fishway to connect the lower segment of Muddy Creek to the Reservoir and an additional 6 miles of stream habitat.
Thomas Creek Fish Passage
Muddy Creek Fish Passage and Habitat Enhancement
Muddy Creek Fish Passage and Habitat Enhancement
- The goal of the proposed Thomas Creek Amsbaugh Diversion - Fish Passage Project is to provide volitional passage for all nine native Goose Lake fish species, accommodating those with no jump height like the Modoc and Goose Lake sucker.
Cox Creek Fish Passage and Screening
Muddy Creek Fish Passage and Habitat Enhancement
Cox Creek Fish Passage and Screening
- The project goal is to restore native fish resiliency, maintain migratory waterfowl habitat, and support agriculture in the Goose Lake Watershed. A connected stream corridor relieved of entrapment will provide native fish range and distribution to spawn, rear, and seek refuge - influencing population and abundance. Wet meadows will provide critical habitat for the millions of migratory waterfowl that travel through the SONEC each year - influencing the Northern Pintail population and abundance while maintaining agriculture production.
Goose Lake Water Conservation Study
Lower Drews Creek Habitat Enhancement
Cox Creek Fish Passage and Screening
- The goal of the study is to produce an Irrigation System Modernization Assessment Plan (Plan). The Plan will identify and evaluate opportunities to update and modernize the extensive distribution network to improve irrigation efficiency and water management. The Plan will also evaluate opportunities for fish passage and screening, waterfowl habitat enhancement, and potential social and cultural benefits for local family farms. The Plan will include GIS mapping, existing operations and infrastructure descriptions, a seepage study, a project prioritization matrix, and alternative design concepts that will be used by the to inform the decision-making process for implementing system modernization.
Lower Drews Creek Habitat Enhancement
Lower Drews Creek Habitat Enhancement
Lower Drews Creek Habitat Enhancement
- Small Grant Project that includes Riparian Fence, Streambank Stabilization, and Off-Site Water Development.