Another item on our agenda is to add trees and shrubs to the gravel area around the Cold Hole and the top of the Red Zone. This is one area that got heavily damaged during the flood of 2009 and other than getting the river flowing and fixed, the area has seen little improvement.
A couple of the problems on Spillway Creek are the warming of the water temps during the summer months and a lack of plentiful food for all the trout to live on.
One partial solution is to plant trees and shrubs all through this sparse area. This will, in effect, have two impacts upon Spillway Creek. First, the shade and dirt provided by the plantings will go a long way in cooling the ground temperatures along that section of the creek. Anything that can help keep the water cool in the summer is a plus. Second, the shrubbery and trees will encourage much more terrestrial life to live in that area as well as provide branches and such for the mayflies and caddis flies to rest and molt in.
We have a source for the trees and shrubs. This is another project that we are just waiting on the ODWC to come and do.