SCOL Meadow Restoration Project
Read about the history of land tending and restoration at SCOL
In 2019, KCC began working with scientists from the Yakama Nation Fisheries Program to restore Carrol’s Creek and the adjacent meadow to a more natural state. This creek runs along the entrance driveway near the barn and the East Creek Trail; the meadow is to the west of the creek and south of the Creek House.
With a grant from the Washington Department of Ecology, and help from the consultants at Wolf Water Resources, work has been underway to gather data about the creek and how water is held in the meadow for the last two years. A report on those findings was issued in October 2023, and in January 2024, the Yakama Nation Fisheries scientists presented their recommended plan to the SCOL Team and others at KCC. The recording of this presentation is viewable by clicking on the video below. A map of the initial design proposal is viewable here: CarrolsCk_PreliminaryDesign
Background information about the project:
As part of SCOL’s land stewardship efforts, in 2022 KCC partnered with Yakima Tribal Fisheries on a project to assess the year round stream flow, temperature, and retention level of water in our meadow by the house and barn. During most of the past ownership of this property, the meadow was channelled and drained to grow grain for cattle ranching. This alteration contributed to a rise in water temperature in Carrols Creek, a tributary of the Little Klickitat River, which affects the natural production of fish in the watershed. The first phase of the Carrols Creek Meadow Project has been for Tribal Fisheries to collect data and then offer KCC recommendations for improvements to the meadow.
On Tuesday, January 16th at 10:30am, the Yakama Nation Fisheries presented their Conceptual Design for Carrols Creek restoration. The focus of this restoration is to improve water quality conditions on Carrols Creek. This will ultimately deliver cooler water temperatures and greater streamflow during the critical summer season to the Little Klickitat Watershed. The proposed design aims to recharge groundwater in the ~60 acre meadow and restore native meadow vegetation to assist in mitigating elevated water temperatures in the basin.
