KANAPOLIS SEEP STREAM PROJECT UPDATE
Email from Tommie Berger - Stream Project Update
Fly Fishers,
Next week - July 14-17 - we will be placing 5 grade control structures on the seep/trout stream below Kanopolis - working Monday thru Thursday. KDWP has their equipment
in place and will be ready to start moving sand and placing rock at noon on Monday. David Derrick from the Corp of Engineers will be here to oversee the project and he
will be running a stream enhancement workshop along with the work on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will be only placing rock in 5 dam locations at this time - we will not be planting any vegetation or trees as the rock dams are all that is approved at this time.
We will be evaluating the stream after the grade control strucutres are in and applying
for permits to do Phase 2 of the project which will be instream habitat structures and vegetation/tree planting. It will likely be spring 2009 or later before we can do any of this work if it is all approved. I will get you guys the Phase 2 plan as soon as I get it
completed - that is likely when we will need additional volunteer help and perhaps funding help!!!
Hopefully, the 5 grade conmtrol structures will give us 5 nice trout pools for this upcoming trout season and carry us through the 2008/2009 season - even if the beaver do not show back up. We will evaluate the pools and phase 2 plans, then decide whether we are going to make any special arrangements for fly fishing/lure fishing only areas for this season.
If you can make a trip up to the seep stream this next week or later in the summer, you will be able to see the results of the 5 grade control structures and let me know what you think. The workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday is open to anyone with no cost involved - if you should have anyone in your organization that might want to attend. Just e-mail me back and I'll try to get you the details.
Sorry for this short notice but things have been slow coming together and I have been extremely busy!
Tommie Berger
Fisheries Biologist
REVISED SEEP STREAM PROPOSAL
FOUR MAJOR GRADE CONTROL STRUCTURES
These grade control structures will be located one at the south end, one about 1/3 of the way up the stream and the other two on the far upper end. They are located so as to
allow three of the deeper natural pools to remain in place – to be enhanced by some instream structures.
The grade control structures will be constructed with shot rock, keyed into both banks. The upstream slope will be the angle of repose of the rock. The downstream slope will be 10 to 1 with the rock laid in compression. Keys will go all the way across the floodplain: 4.5 feet wide by 3 feet thick section of stone (0.8 tons/ft) with 1 foot of backfill. All keys on the left bank will be vegetated with two poles of material per lineal foot. Bank protection on both banks will be 1 ton per foot for the length of each grade control structure.
Grade Control #4: 1.8 x 10 x 26 ft wide by 3 ft thick. This structure will include logs as part of the keys instead of all rock. (145 tons of rock)
Grade Control #3: 3.3 x 10 x 31 ft wide by 3 ft thick. (291 tons of rock)
Grade Control #2: 3.2 x 10 x 35 ft wide by 3 ft thick. (286 tons of rock)
Grade Control #1: 3 x 10 x 30 ft wide by 3 ft thick. (242 tons of rock)
(These grade control structures will also require 350 willow poles and 100 rooted stock trees – species to be determined.)
Grade Control #5: There is another minor grade control structure designed for the clay pool area about mid-way up the stream. This area is a natural pool spilling out into a clay bottom riffle with a significant drop to the next pool area. In order to protect this particular area it was suggested to lay stone in the riffle area and develop the lower pool with bank stabilization /habitat structures at and downstream of the clay pool. It includes a STONE GRAND SLAM with SSMOOSHED RIPRAP at the first downstream 180 degree bend and a CORNER LUNKER WITH HALF LOG ROOF and SSMOOSHED RIPRAP at the second downstream 180 degree bend. (150 tons of rock and 40 willow and 40 rooted stock trees)
Bank Stabilization/Habitat Enhancement Upstream of Clay Pool: CORNER LUNKER WITH HALF LOG ROOF and SSMOOSHED RIPRAP then downstream a WRONG WAY BOIL-UP POOL. (110 tons of rock and 20 willows and 20 rooted stock trees)
Bank Stabilization/Habitat Enhancement Upstream of Grade Control #4: 100 ft of TRAFFIC CONTROL STONES on the left bank. (50 tons of rock and 100 willows)
CHANNEL WIDTH TEST PLOT – 75 ft long - 3 weirs 25 x 3 x 3 ft
25 x 6 x 3 ft
25 x 9 x 3 ft (80 tons rock and 75 willows)
BOIL-UP POOL downstream of test plot 80 ft x 1 ton/ft (80 tons of rock)
Habitat Enhancement – 120 ft straight section: CONTRACTION STONES on both banks (75 tons of rock and 60 willows and 15 rooted stock trees)
Habitat Enhancement – good natural pool: LOCKED LOGS, FLOATING HALF LOGS, and BED IDVERSITY STONES. (10 tons of rock, 174 willow stakes, 6 floating half logs and 4 eastern red cedar locked logs)
Habitat Enhancement – 200 ft straight stretch at dark stone riprap on right bank: One KINK WITH CURVED STONE SLAM and one “MISSING TOOTH” STONE TRANSVERSE BAR WITH CIRCULAR STONE SLAM. (160 ton of rock, 160 willows, and 30 rooted stock trees)
Habitat Enhancement – 150 ft straight stretch upstream: SINGLE STONE BENDWAY WEIRS with TCS & CEDAR TREE REVETMENT, then STONE ANGLE SLAM at the downstream end with a right bank GRAND SLAM (40 ft of LPSTP). (180 tons of rock, 80 willows, 80 rooted stock trees, and 6 cedar trees with root wads)
Bank Stabilization/Habitat Enhancement upstream of GC #3: CORNER LUNKER WITH HALF LOG ROOF WITH SSMOOSHED RIRAP at the tight bend, then a LOG ANGLE SLAM for an ALIGN & CATCH. (50 tons of rock, 40 willows and 40 rooted stock trees, 3 large logs and 5 20 ft half logs)
Habitat Enhancement – 200 ft straight stretch: STONE SQUEEZER. (80 tons of rock, 20 willows, and 20 rooted stock trees)
Habitat Enhancement – 300 ft straight stretch: TRANVERSE BAR WITH CURVED SLAM WITH A LOG SQUEEZER. (60 tons of rock, 40 willows, 40 rooted stock trees, and 2 large logs)
These are listed in priority order in case the funding is not available for the entire project or if time constraints limit the scope of the project.
From KDWP newsletter (Tommie Berger, Fisheries Biologist)
Many of the folks around Kanopolis have been hearing talk in the past year or more about some improvements/enhancements planned for the trout stream that lies right behind the dam of the reservoir. We, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, have been considering improvements on the stream to enhance the work the beaver had done and spread out the angling pressure over a broader area. KDWP and the Corp of Engineers conducted an engineering study in 2002 for a Handicap Access project on the lower end of the stream and that project has been setting there waiting for funding.
The seep stream / Sand Creek is a constantly flowing stream that runs seepage water that flows from underneath the dam. The toe drains of the dam gather seepage water and channel it to the stream through a series of lateral pipes. This water comes out of the ground at a constant temperature between 55 and 60 degrees – making the stream cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Unfortunately that water also comes out of the ground with no dissolved oxygen so it has to flow a ways to aerate. It makes for an ideal location for winter trout stocking and we have been stocking trout there since 1986.
Initially stocking was accomplished just on the lower end – south end of the stream. The large pool backed up by the small concrete dam or weir was the initial stocking location. As more trout became available, we began to stock pooled water that was primarily backed up by the beaver further up the stream. Beaver activity has been prevalent on the stream for many years, the only problem was that the beaver did not always put their dam where we wanted them. They also did not always build them high enough nor sturdy enough to weather the occasional flood that came down the stream.
We’ve been thankful for the beaver for they have been a big asset. Their pools not only gave us pooled water in which to stock the trout but they also gave the stream an atmosphere much like a traditional trout fishing experience. With the huge Kanopolis Reservoir dam as the western backdrop (mountain), abundant beaver activity along the stream, and a narrow riparian corridor shielding the eastern portions from the flat Kansas landscape, one can drop in along the stream and almost forget that you are not fishing for wild trout somewhere high in the Rockies or deep in the Ozarkian backwoods.
Our only problem was that I could find no one who spoke beaver and they did not always do just what we wanted. Often they would not get busy in October and there would be few if any deeper pools at the start of the trout season. They also seemed to like to work in certain areas, not always the areas that we wanted. Their dams would deteriorate over the summer or get washed out with high water. Then in May of 2007 we got the BIG flood and it washed out ever bit of beaver activity and, for a while, we thought the beaver too. Come to find out, the beaver simply moved over to the east in an old oxbow of the creek where they seemed to find security. In the fall and winter of 2007/2008 they decided to stay put and did little at all in the stream itself.
The last couple of years the beaver built a big dam up near the north end and we began to stock that large pool at the request of some fly fishing anglers. We spread the trout out over the entire length of the stream and that worked well. Some anglers would park at the south end and walk up the stream. Others found the parking lot on the east side to the north end was a closer walk to the bigger pools on the upper end. That worked pretty well and did spread out the anglers. Those willing to walk a ways in between were often rewarded with better fishing because those pools and trout saw less pressure.
But, as I mentioned earlier, the 2007 floods eliminated all the beaver dams and activity. This past fall and winter, we have been stocking the lower big pool and only 4 other natural pools that are scattered to about half way up the stream. This has again concentrated anglers and made for some more crowded fishing conditions.
Last winter, I was asked by the KDWP administration to develop an enhancement proposal for the stream. I wrote up a project that included 6 check dams and some instream habitat improvements that included boulders, floating half logs, and some overhead bank cover. Of course, because the stream is on Corp of Engineers property, we had to get their approval. Everything we do has to meet dam safety criteria as well as be engineered to protect the integrity of the stream itself as well as any structures on the backside of the dam.
In October, the COE brought in their national stream rehabilitation expert from Mississippi who put on a great 3 day workshop for a number of local organizations and they used the seep stream/Sand Creek as their study stream. They looked over my proposal and made necessary modifications to meet their requirements. So now we have a project and a tentative work plan as well.
The project calls for 4 Grade Control Structures/Rocked Riffles (fancy name for check dams). They will be spaced somewhat evenly throughout the stream with the northern most dam right about where the large beaver dam was on the upper end. There are several natural pools currently on the stream and we tried to maintain those without backing water over them. About midway up the stream there is a couple of pools that we currently stock and we plan to enhance those pools by placing some rock in the riffle area between them and some overhead cover over the pools.
If the money does not run out, we have about 9 other Bank Stabilization/Habitat Enhancement structures designed into the remaining flowing stretches of the stream. These structures are designed to make the water work for us to scour deeper pools and to provide overhead cover both in the stream and along the banks. These will include lots of boulders and rock, logs both floating and under the water, and trees and willows planted along the banks to provide shade and additional cover. If we get everything done we have planned, this will be a quality trout fishing stream that should last for a long, long time.
The time line for this project will start in the spring. Getting equipment lined up, large trees felled and stockpiled, and rock hauled in will take some time. Dave Derrick, the COE expert is planning to return in late May or early June to spend a week on the ground getting as much work done as possible. Wildlife and Parks is planning to bring in their heavy equipment crew to do the bulk of the work and we plan to have as many bodies as we need for the physical work. Dave says that big yellow machines are the way to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. We plan to get at least one large track hoe in for the project and Dave says if we can find a second one that would be even better. Anybody out there know of a big track hoe setting anywhere that needs a job?????? We would gladly take a donation of time and machines and pay for the gas if there are any volunteers out there!!! We’ll have to look at our budget to see if we can afford one otherwise.
We do not expect to get everything done in that short period of time. We will continue to work throughout the summer on the project and hope to have most of it done by the start of the trout season in October. If the money runs out, we will do as much as we can and carry some of the work over into later years! We do have support from several trout fishing clubs, one from Wichita and one from Lawrence, so we could get a few funds or some manpower assistance from them!! They are very much interested in a fly fishing/artificial lure only area of the stream and we are considering that too. We have tried to find some partners on the Handicap Access project designed for the big pool right off the spillway parking lot but to date no one has come forward with any funding for that project. Anyone out there with some funding for handicap access?????
So, if you see a bunch of trucks hauling in rock, see a few big yellow machines alongside the stream, and a bunch of bodies running around down there this summer, you will know what is going on. We will not be doing much of anything until the trout season is over this spring so you still have some time to take advantage of the trout fishing between now and the first of May. Our last stocking is scheduled for mid-March so hopefully you will have all the trout harvested by early summer.
Hopefully by next fall, the stream will look very different. Permanent pools will be ready for trout come October 15th and the stream may be one of the premier trout fishing locations in the state of Kansas. We plan to run a creel survey of trout anglers throughout the 2008/2009 trout season and we may just ask you what you think about our project!