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In 2002 a new water diversion structure and fish screen in John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon, restored fish travel in Rock Creek and reduced withdrawals needed to irrigate historical hayfields. Since 1899, irrigation water has been diverted from the creek to two hayfields in the monument. Limited water reached the fields because of seepage while traveling 2 miles in an unlined ditch. Stacked rocks diverted much of the creek’s water during summer and blocked passage upstream for most fish species. The diversion hampered colder-water fish, such as the threatened summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), limiting their ability to reach cooler water during hot summers.
In 2002 a partnership with the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and funding from the NPS Recreational Fee Demonstration Program, allowed construction of a technologically advanced diversion structure and fish screen to encourage fish passage. The new diversion employs a channel that allows all fish species to pass in summer. The diversion stanchions lie flat in winter, facilitating natural stream-related processes. The fish screen returns fish entering the irrigation ditch back to Rock Creek within 50 yards of the diversion, so they are not entrapped in the ditch or fields. In 2003 the park will install pipe in the remaining unlined segments of the ditch, improving water delivery.
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