Mark West Creek and Wetland Restoration Project

Restoration in the Upper Mark West Creek watershed is critical to the recovery of coho salmon, which are currently listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries prioritizes Mark West Creek in the Central California Coast (CCC) Coho Salmon Recovery Plan (CCC ESU) for being some of the best remaining habitat for coho salmon in the Russian River watershed. The recovery plan identifies a lack of pool habitat, lack of winter refugia, and insufficient baseflow conditions as limiting factors for rearing juvenile coho. Porter Creek and Mill Creek, tributaries to Mark West Creek in the Preserve, are considered salmonid bearing streams. Under the California Water Action Plan, Mark West Creek was identified as one of the five priority streams due to its high biological resource value and potential for species recovery. The California Water Action Plan outlines actions to address challenges and promote reliability, restoration, and resilience in the management of California’s water. The California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (CDFW) and the State Water Resources Control Board have been directed under Action 4 of the California Water Action Plan to implement actions to enhance instream flows within at least five priority stream systems that support critical habitat for anadromous fish, which includes Mark West Creek. The Project would implement restoration in the Preserve to support recovery of coho salmon by restoring streamflow and wetlands, improving fish passage, elevating groundwater levels, and reducing erosion, among other goals. This Project would improve stream flow and migratory fish access to prime habitat locations in the upper watershed, as well as improve instream habitat in tributaries to Mark West Creek on the Preserve property. The Project is designed to benefit coho salmon consistent with the CCC ESU coho salmon recovery plan (i.e., creates pool habitat, winter refugia, and improves baseflow conditions). The Project will: - Capture, spread out, and infiltrate flows from small watersheds to prolong stream flow and delay drying of the ephemeral reaches Mark West Creek and Porter Creek within the Preserve over the late spring and early summer months; - Remove small dams and legacy structures. Modify relic instream structures within the Preserve to improve fish passage for juvenile salmonid to the upstream cold-water reaches of Mark West Creek, Mill Creek, and other perennial creeks; and - Increase wood loading in cold-water reaches of Mill Creek and Mark West Creek to enhance habitat conditions for juvenile salmonids.?