Willow Creek Watershed

Willow Creek public meeting results From the meeting that took place on January 29, 2004.

Willow Creek is a tributary to the lower Russian River in coastal Sonoma County. The Willow Creek watershed drains an area of approximately 8.7 square miles, nearly all of which is owned and managed by State Parks.. The lower Willow Creek valley within the park contains significant, undeveloped wetland and riparian habitats. The upper watershed is primarily forested land, with intermixed grasslands.

The Willow Creek Watershed Education Program is one component of a larger Willow Creek Restoration and Management Project, which offers a unique opportunity to aid in the recovery of native steelhead trout and perhaps even the return of coho salmon in Willow Creek. Many organizations and agencies, and the local public, are committed to the recovery of salmonids. In addition, key components needed for a healthy salmonid population (i.e., a healthy riparian zone and adequate summer low flows) are already present. For these reasons, this project has a high potential to aid the recovery of salmonids in the watershed. Besides the landowners, other public and private partners have an interest in the success of this project. Project Partners include: Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, California State Parks, LandPaths, California Department of Fish and Game, and Prunuske Chatham, Inc.

Approximately 4,600 feet upstream from its confluence with the Russian River, Willow Creek has filled in with sediment. In certain segments of the creek, no bed or banks remain. These conditions limit, and will continue to limit, the upstream migration of spawning salmonids to periods when the valley is flooded. Downstream migration of juveniles in spring is, and will continue to be, blocked.

The filled channel condition of Willow Creek upstream of the second bridge is attributed to channel modifications that were begun before 1953, as well as increased sediment yield from land use practices in the watershed. Prior to 1953, Willow Creek was relocated, straightened, and probably widened, apparently to facilitate agriculture. Such channel modifications often create a condition that traps sediment as is illustrated by the fact that unmodified reaches of Willow Creek upstream and downstream are not filled with sediment to the same degree. The increased sediment yield from the watershed is attributed to road construction, timber harvesting, and livestock grazing beginning before 1900. Sediment supply derived from landsliding and surface erosion has decreased since the 1960s.

Proposition 13 funding administered by the State Water Resources Control Board and the Sonoma County Water Agency made possible the development of an integrated watershed plan, a channel feasibility analysis, as well as a watershed education program. Additonal funding was received from the Russian River Watershed Council, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation/Pacific Grassroots Salmon Initiative, and the Sonoma County Wildlife Commission. LandPaths also received funding from the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish and Game to work on restoration in the upper watershed.