What happens when storm water-absorbing vegetation has been almost entirely eliminated by a devastating wildfire? In many cases, it results in secondary wildfire impacts to our watersheds and infrastucture. Shasta County's 2018 Carr Fire burned the entirety of the Rock Creek Watershed, a tributary that enters the Sacramento River approximately .25 miles downstream of Keswick Dam. Intense post-fire runoff resulted in severe damage to a large culvert crossing on Rock Creek, about 1-mile upstream from its confluence with the Sacramento. 

With assistance from the California Conservation Corps, WSRCD recently completed winterization of Phase 2 of the Rock Creek Culvert Removal Restoration Project. A US Bureau of Reclamation Construction crew from Provo, Utah worked from August to November to remove the upstream 100-feet of the large crushed culverts that were severely damaged after the 2018 Carr Fire. Rock Creek is now able to flow freely through the large pipes for the current winter season. The final phase of work to remove the remaining 200 linear feet of metal pipes and fully restore the natural stream channel will be completed in summer 2026. Upon completion, the project will have removed both of the 12-foot diameter, 300-foot long pipes and over 80,000 cubic yards of fill material that encompassed the massive abandoned railroad crossing.

This work is funded through the US Bureaus of Reclamation and Land Management and a WSRCD-received grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Cannabis Restoration Grant Program.

Learn more about the project in this brief video: