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Trail Creek Fish Passage:
More Miles. More Fish

BY CONNECTING TRAIL CREEK TO THE BIG WOOD RIVER, WE COULD OPEN UP OVER A DOZEN MILES OF HABITAT CRUCIAL TO GROWING BLUE RIBBON TROUT

PROBLEMS AND LIMITING FACTORS AND HISTORY

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The sun valley lake dam on Trail Creek has cut off trout between their native spawning habitat and the Big Wood river for decades. Prior to tributary disconnection, trout had access to over 15 miles of rearing and spawning habitat, allowing native trout to grow to be nearly three times larger than the average fish caught today. The wooden dam was built in the 1930’s and included a fish ladder, so trout could reach their spawning grounds. When Dollar road was built in the 1960’s, the fish ladder was decommissioned. In the 1990’s, the old fish ladder was re-established, but the lake water could not reach levels high enough that were adequate for fish passage. See below for Rainbow trout attempting to migrate to the upper reaches of Trail Creek, just below the Sun Valley Lake Dam.

Trail and Corral Creek provide critical rearing habitat for juvenile trout once they emerge from their redd (nest). The figure below shows the beaver pond complex on Trail Creek, these beaver ponds are very productive food sources for juvenile trout which leads to increased survival and size of Rainbow trout.. There are individual smaller ponds on Corral Creek and Wilson Creek that also provide critical rearing habitat for Rainbow trout. These types of habitat are rare in the Big Wood River, and would provide an instant benefit to Rainbow trout abundance and survival.

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PROJECT GOALS & BENEFITS

Project partners have been working together over the last several years to figure out what options exist to achieve fish passage. At this stage, the big question is what is planned for the lake in the long term. Below is a summary of benefits if fish passage is provided above Sun Valley Lake Dam:\


 

  • Complete alternatives analysis to see what options are safe and effective at providing fish passage

  • Increase spawning and rearing habitat for Rainbow trout by providing access to critical habitats, including rare beaver dam pond complexes in Trail and Corral Creek

  • Increase abundance and size of Rainbow trout in the Big Wood River and Trail Creek Basin

PROJECT PARTNERS

  • Trout Unlimited

  • Sun Valley Resort

  • Wood River Land Trust

  • River Structures Consulting

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