The Eightmile Valley Sediment Reduction and Habitat Enhancement Project is located in the Upper Scotts Creek Watershed within the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) South Cow Mountain Off Highway Vehicle Recreation Area approximately 9 miles west of Lakeport. The site is a valley of approximately 16 acres, characterized by grasslands and riparian habitat. The valley’s wetlands were reclaimed for agriculture in the early 1900s, causing stream degradation and allowing sediment to flow into Clear Lake.
In 2005 an attempt was made to correct stream erosion in the valley, but the control structures were washed out by 250-year storm events of 2005-2006. In 2012, a collaborative partnership of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, BLM and the West Lake Resource Conservation District (now part of Lake County RCD) developed a design plan and applied for funding from the California State Water Resources Control Board, which was awarded.. The Scott’s Valley Band is providing staff, water quality monitoring equipment and water quality monitoring for the project; BLM is providing fiscal sponsorship, staff, reporting and invoicing, and construction oversight; and the RCD is providing project management and technical support.
The design plan will reduce sediment transport to Clear Lake, stabilize and restore channel geomorphology, and enhance/restore habitat value to the degraded meadow/riparian ecosystem. This will be accomplished through realignment and stabilization of existing stream channels, stream bank stabilization with bio-control plantings, revegetation, and erosion control management practices.
In 2005 an attempt was made to correct stream erosion in the valley, but the control structures were washed out by 250-year storm events of 2005-2006. In 2012, a collaborative partnership of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, BLM and the West Lake Resource Conservation District (now part of Lake County RCD) developed a design plan and applied for funding from the California State Water Resources Control Board, which was awarded.. The Scott’s Valley Band is providing staff, water quality monitoring equipment and water quality monitoring for the project; BLM is providing fiscal sponsorship, staff, reporting and invoicing, and construction oversight; and the RCD is providing project management and technical support.
The design plan will reduce sediment transport to Clear Lake, stabilize and restore channel geomorphology, and enhance/restore habitat value to the degraded meadow/riparian ecosystem. This will be accomplished through realignment and stabilization of existing stream channels, stream bank stabilization with bio-control plantings, revegetation, and erosion control management practices.
