The Shaw Ranch Restoration Project addresses bank erosion and riparian vegetation along the Pit River. The project is located on the Shaw Ranch near the town of Lookout in southwestern Modoc County. The Shaw Ranch contains over 2.5 miles of the main stem Pit River that slowly meanders through Big Valley. The Shaw Ranch has a history of progressive, innovative resource stewardship practices and is a model for other local ranches.
The goal of this project is to serve as a demonstration project for the Pit RCD regarding bank erosion along the Pit River. The project will benefit water quality by preventing valuable land loss due to accelerated rates of erosion, reducing sediment loading, minimizing nutrient loading, increasing dissolved oxygen, and lowering water temperatures. The project will also enhance pool habitat in the mainstem Pit River to benefit native riverine fishes, including redband trout and hardhead.
The project included the placement of J-hook rock vanes and vegetative planting to stabilize approximately 1000 linear feet of main stem Pit River. Construction conducted during the fall of 2005 and 2006 placed ten J-hook vanes and treated approximately 1,300 of linear feet along the Pit River. Initial evaluation of their function appears successful, as the treated banks did not erode during high flood flows after the first year of construction.
This project was funded through Proposition 13, EPA 319h, and NRCS grant programs.
