Gold Ridge RCD: Salmon Creek School Project Update
Starting in 2009, the Gold Ridge RCD (GRRCD) and its partner organizations have implemented a streamflow enhancement program aiming to improve dry season instream flow in mainstem Salmon Creek for the benefit of coho salmon and steelhead trout. Their main strategy has been to reduce dry season water diversion from the stream and its alluvial aquifer by implementing water conservation measures and providing alternate water supplies for certain uses. To that end, GRRCD has constructed numerous water conservation and rainwater catchment projects in the watershed over the past 14 years. These projects work to reduce water demand and replace water currently diverted from Salmon Creek both directly and via shallow near-stream wells with stored rainwater. That way, water supplies and adequate dry season streamflows can both be secured through careful planning and water supply management.
The Salmon Creek School Water Conservation Project is a collaborative effort between GRRCD, Harmony Union School District (HUSD) and multiple design and construction partners to reduce the school’s reliance on Salmon Creek’s alluvial aquifer as its primary water source. The primary goal of the project is to improve dry season streamflow (May-Oct) in spawning and rearing reaches of the mainstem of Salmon Creek for the benefit of juvenile coho and steelhead. The school satisfies nearly all of its water demand by pumping from a shallow alluvial well located less than 50 feet from the creek. The project aims to reduce demand for irrigation water for the school’s athletic field (by changing grass to turf, shown above) and landscaping and to replace diversion from the well with stored rainwater as the source to satisfy this water demand.
Pre-project irrigation water demand during the dry season has been estimated at 1.5 million gallons. Now completed, the project eliminated dry season irrigation water diversion from the well through water conservation measures, and the construction of a 517,000-gallon rainwater catchment system to provide for the remaining water needs.