South Santiam Watershed Council

Programs: In fy 2016-2017, the sswc worked in four main program areas: restoration (riparian restoration and in-stream habitat enhancement) education (youth watershed council and outdoor school) monitoring (project effectiveness and water quality) forest collaborative (forest management) in restoration arena, the sswc completed restoration work at multiple locations. In-stream habitat was enhanced with the construction of numerous log jams on land managed by the us forest service. The nine instream log structures were placed into moose creek to enhance habitat complexity and improve juvenile rearing habitat for esa-listed winter steelhead. Planning efforts were started for future in stream enhancement sites at different creeks. An important component of watershed restoration is work in the riparian area. Over the past 7 years, the sswc has planted several hundred thousand native trees and shrubs in the watershed. In fy 2016-17, the sswc planted approximately 25,700 native trees and shrubs in an effort to improve riparian conditions along multiple creeks. Sites that had been planted in previous years were maintained so as to enhance plant survival thus assuring long term success at planting sites. This involved visiting over 25 properties multiple times to treat invasive weeds that may threaten the previous plantings. New sites were prepped for future planting by removing invasive plants and creating plant lists appropriate to the site. In monitoring, the council was less active due to funding changes. Monitoring activities were primarily centered on photo points and stream temperature monitoring at priority locations. Photo points are photographs taken at the same location over multiple years in succession. The photos help to document changes at the site and are useful in telling the story of the project. Stream temperature is a major driver of aquatic ecosystems. Restoration activities are often designed to improve stream temperatures for cold water fishes. Monitoring water temperature allows the sswc to measure the effectiveness of projects over a long time period. It is anticipated that instream habitat surveys will commence in the future but at a reduced level. With education, the sswc is continuing to work with the u. S. Forest service, sweet home ranger district and local schools to bring this coordinated watershed education program to watershed students. The program has two main components; the annual outdoor school and the youth watershed council (ywc). The outdoor school program that involves a series of in-class watershed education activities and field trips to sweet home and lebanon 5th and 6th grade classes that culminates in a three day outdoor school attended by over 250 students. The activities and field trips consist of topics important to watershed health including riparian and forest ecology, wildlife biology, and fisheries. The ywc is a program for sweet home high school and lebanon high school students to participate in an organization that follows the principles of effective watershed councils. The ywcs have 20 members and meets weekly during the school year. At the meetings, the members listen to presentations of watershed issues and restoration opportunities, and discuss ways to address issues. The ywc has featured field trips to sites and work days at locations the students select for restoration. During this fiscal year, much work was conducted in sweet home along the south santiam river and on hamilton creek near lebanon. The south santiam all lands collaborative (ssalc) is a forest collaborative that focuses on forest management issues. Ssalc facilitates open to the public field trips to willamette national forest project sites in order to assist with planning efforts. Ssalc also is involved with sweet home livability issues such as urban trails, connection to nearby public lands and economic issues. The ssalc saw significant decrease in activity during the 2016-2017 fiscal year. It is anticipated that the group will disband. The sswc works in a partnership with the north santiam and calapooia watershed councils, and the south santiam all lands collaborative. The partnership involves sharing staff and grant funding between the organizations. The calapooia watershed council is a 501(c)(3) organization, but the north santiam watershed council and the south santiam all lands collaborative are not. The north santiam watershed council utilizes cascade pacific rc&d (a 501(c)(3)) as its fiscal sponsor. The sswc is the fiscal sponsor for the south santiam all lands collaborative.