Scott River Watershed Council

Southern Oregon University's Environmental Science and Policy students, Emily Staveak and Taylor Owen, completed their Capstone project analyzing data collected around the influence of large woody debris on stream morphology and Coho habitat parameters. They worked through the summer and fall of 2019 to collect five data components: streamflow, water temperature, streambed substrate composition, pool frequency and quality, and vegetative coverage in stream. These components were identified for the usefulness in creating a thorough profile of Patterson Creek’s current Coho habitat quality as well as their value as quantitative descriptors a large woody debris us influence on stream morphology. Their study thought to provide data regarding morphological characteristics that could be referred in the future to compare stream conditions before and after woody debris implementation. Their research methodology was developed with the goal of setting a precedent for future data collection for upcoming Patterson Creek project phases schedule for 2020 and 2021 and will document the long-term effects of large Woody debris us on Coho habitat quality within the system. Taylor and Emily with their present findings at SWIF 2020.