Lower Salmon River Tributaries Stream Inventory

The downloadable ZIP file contains an Esri shapefile.The Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District (NPSWCD) completed the Lower Salmon River Tributaries stream habitat inventory and assessment on several tributaries of the Lower Salmon River. The data collected provides land managers with a tool to evaluate and prioritze stream improvements in order to develop steelhead habitat restoration projects.  Tributaries inventoried include Birch Creek, China Creek, Deer Creek, Eagle Creek, and Wapshilla Creek. The study area is within the jurisdictional bourndaries of Nez Perce and Lewis counties, State of Idaho. Encompassing 66,690 acres, the Lower Salmon River Tributaries geographic area is located within the Salmon River Basin. During the summers of 2010 through 2015, 201 miles of stream were inventoried. All methods were collected according to the Stream Assessment Methodology (Rasmussen, 2006). This protocol was adapted fron the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service Stream Visual Assessment Protocol. The Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP) consists of fourteen parameters.  Each criterion is given a numerical rating on a scale of 1 to 10, where the highest number represents the best condition.  An index is created by totaling the values of all criteria evaluated and dividing by the number of criteria evaluated (USDA, 2004).  This index is then divided into a four component ranking system consisting of poor, fair, good, and excellent. The Lower Salmon River Tributaries Stream Inventory and Assessment can be found on the NPSWCD's website.These data were contributed to INSIDE Idaho at the University of Idaho Library in 2015 & 2016.