Overview
The Lake Creek watershed was historically one of the most important streams upstream of the Pelton Round Butte complex for spawning and rearing of spring chinook, and migration of sockeye salmon to the Suttle Lake area. Throughout the Lake Creek watershed, several significant passage barriers and unscreened diversions and several culverts adversely affect stream function.
On the South Fork of Lake Creek, the most significant problem was the culvert on Road 800 on the Metolius Preserve property owned by the Deschutes Land Trust. The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council partnered with the Deschutes Land Trust and Deschutes National Forest to remove the Road 800 culvert, obliterate the road, and restore the 400-foot project reach on the South Fork of Lake Creek to a natural condition.
The project involved:
- Excavation of 1,000 cubic yards of fill material associated with the culvert and road bed
- Removal of a 9 foot wide culvert from the creek
- Restoration of natural bed and banks and
- Complete restoration of site with over 1,500 plants and shrubs.
The Importance of Lake Creek
Lake Creek is the focus of habitat restoration efforts because it supports native redband trout and federally-listed Threatened bull trout. In addition, Lake Creek is one of the most important tributaries in the Metolius River watershed for the reintroduction of chinook and sockeye salmon that is scheduled to begin in 2008. Although these fish have been blocked from Metolius River watershed for more than 40 years, the returning chinook are expected to spawn in Lake Creek and the sockeye will migrate up Lake Creek to Suttle Lake, where they are expected to spawn in the lake and in Link Creek.
Funding
Project funding and support are being provided by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Pelton Fund, Deschutes Land Trust, Trout Unlimited, Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon Department of Fish and WIldlife.
