The curry watersheds nonprofit, in conjunction with oregon parks and recreation department and the privately-owned sweet ranch, will stabilize and protect the bank and riparian habitat and improve…

The curry watersheds nonprofit, in conjunction with oregon parks and recreation department and the privately-owned sweet ranch, will stabilize and protect the bank and riparian habitat and improve water quality along the sixes river estuary on the southern oregon coast, as well as protect working agricultural lands and irrigation structures along the project reach. Severe erosion along the sixes river delivers excess sediment and pollution into the estuary and has threatened pasture irrigation systems. A lack of riparian vegetation leads to higher water temperatures and reduces complexity of instream habitat, affecting the threatened oregon coast coho salmons spawning and rearing. The partners will regrade the bank slope and install lateral log structures for 2,300 feet of the sixes riverbank to redirect the channel away from the bank, and will also plant willow, bare root shrubs, hardwood, and coniferous trees to create three acres of riparian habitat along the river. These efforts will slow or stop the erosion, stabilize the riverbank, improve water quality, and create complex instream habitat for summer and winter juvenile fish rearing in and around the estuary. Reducing erosion supports working lands efforts to exclude livestock from the river and establish a riparian reserve, increases valuable pastureland and protects existing irrigation practices, which support ranches that are an asset to the local economy and agricultural community. Restoration of ancestral lands for the confederated tribes of the siletz indians also supports federal tribal trust responsibilities. The strategic action plan prioritizes this project for the sixes river watershed, developed by the south coast watershed council and curry watersheds partnership. Other project partners include federal and state agencies, the coquille indian tribe and confederated tribes of the siletz indians, land trusts, and environmental groups.