Troutdale Farmers Help Survey Returning Adult Salmon

Katherine and Michael Cory are small-scale farmers and landowners just outside the Troutdale city limits. The Corys have a connection to Beaver Creek, which runs along their property, because of the Coho Salmon that return each year to spawn. Beaver Creek is unique in that it flows through rural and urban settings starting 2.5 miles southeast of Barlow High School and ending in Troutdale, where it flows into the Sandy River. Last year the Corys formed a partnership with many neighbors allowing them access to three miles of stream inaccessible to the public outside of incorporated Troutdale. The purpose of this partnership is to perform salmon spawning surveys on upper Beaver Creek, an area that is largely unstudied.

Coho and Chinook salmon are among the 14 fish species that live in Beaver Creek. Mt. Hood Community College Fisheries Department students have conducted Coho and Chinook spawning surveys for several years on the Creek. This year, students found over 139 fish between Glenn Otto Park and Troutdale Road. Upstream of Troutdale Road, only 19 fish were found by the college students and one by the Corys. This is likely due to the fact that this year's flow has been inconsistent and Stark Street and Cochran Road culverts present barriers to salmon trying to spawn upstream. The Corys found 24 spawning salmon two years ago, indicating that some streamflow conditions do permit some salmon to pass these barriers.

In 2014, Multnomah County obtained a grant to replace the Stark Street and Cochran Road culverts, so fish can migrate freely to the upper reaches of the stream. Construction is set for summer in 2016 and 2017, respectively, to replace the culverts.

Beaver Creek had high water temperatures during the summer of 2015, which is problematic for fish that need cool water to successfully rear and reproduce. The City of Troutdale is working with East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District through their StreamCare Program to remove invasive plants in Beaver Creek Canyon (East of Troutdale Road), and replant the area with native plants. Over the next several years this effort will help provide shade to the creek, thus cooling water and improving habitat for fish.

Soon we will have a healthier creek where salmon populations will one day flourish from the headwaters of Beaver Creek to its confluence with the Sandy River. The Corys’ and Mt. Hood Community College’s salmon data will be a great way to measure the success of this work.

Submitted by Jesse Holt, Community Involvement Specialist at the Sandy River Basin Watershed Council. Learn more about our work at www.sandyriver.org