I lived in a small mountain community in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic.  The project I was charged with was  to design, get funds for, and have the community build a gravity-fed aqueduct.  The project was well received by the community and the Dominican government supported the project through a grant for materials.  The community members worked for well over a year in construction of the system.  After completion, a community that would, during certain parts of the year, walk for 4-8 km to get water now had water in their yards or just down the street at public taps.  The success of my project propelled me to consult with other volunteers in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti on water projects.  My experience as a community member and leader has shaped the direction of my career.  I was also involved in teaching English, medical projects as a translator and promoter of the HIV/AIDS initiative, and supporter of the Women in Development program.

    Resource management, resource extraction and recreational activities use forest roads on managed landscapes.  On iPhoto LibraryU.S. National Forest land in Oregon and Washington, there were 93,900 miles of road in 1997 (Coghlan and Sowa, 1998).  Additional thousands of miles of road are on state and private managed land.  At any intersection of a road and a stream, there is typically some type of stream crossing structure. 

    A challenging issue, when added to the sheer number of culverts, is the obligation to provide fish passage at any stream crossing used by fish during any significant period of the year (ODFW, 1997).  Partial o

r complete barriers to fish passage through culverts often make suitable habitat unreachable, may result in decreased spawning of fish, and may increase predation.  Fish passage guidelines for conventionally designed culverts are based on average water velocity for the species of interest, life stage, and timing of migration.  A recent survey of culverts on fish bearing streams located on the Fremont National Forest showed that 86% of the 329 surveyed culverts did not met the fish passage guidelines set by the US Forest Service.  Stream simulation culverts are designed to have the same physical channel characteristics in the culvert barrel as in the natural stream. 

    This project tracks the replacement of three stream crossing culverts, determined to be fish barriers, from the design and construction phase through a detailed review of their performance after one spring snowmelt. The three culverts were replaced with stream simulation designed culverts on the Fremont National Forest of south central Oregon.  The culvert sites are located in the Fort Rock Basin in streams that are home to resident Great Basin redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).  The Great Basin redband trout is the common name for the native trout in the Great Basin and is informally recognized as O.m. newberrii.  This study documents, through examples, the steps in the design process of three stream simulation culverts, investigates various metrics to explore the degree of similarity between stream simulation culverts and the natural stream, and investigates various systems to track channel stability within stream simulation culverts. 

Coghlan, G. and R. Sowa.  1998.  National Forest road system and use.  USDA Forest Service.  Engineering Staff.  Washington D.C.  28 p.

ODFW.  1997.  Guidelines and criteria for stream-road crossings.  December 1997.  7p.