Paint Creek Habitat Restoration
CHAPTER AWARDED EMBRACE A STREAM GRANT TO CONTINUE PAINT CREEK RESTORATION WORK
Paint Creek is part of the Clinton River watershed situated in southeast Michigan. It is a scenic, cold-water stream containing a documented population of wild brown trout. In 2016 Michigan TU completed an instream assessment of Paint Creek and concluded that portions of it are seriously lacking instream fish cover for adult trout.
In 2018 Vanguard Chapter began a Project with the goals of improving instream fish habitat and managing large woody debris within the stream. The work consisted of large woody debris remediation and installation of log habitat structures in deficient areas of the stream. The work was done under a MDEQ permit; and was designed and supervised by a qualified and experienced environmental consultant, and Michigan TU’s Aquatic Biologist. The Chapter partnered with the Clinton River Watershed Council, the Paint Creek Trail Commission, and the City of Rochester which owns the property. The Project was continued in 2019, and now more than 35 instream log habitat structures have been installed using Chapter funds, and donations from the Michigan Fly Fishing Club and the Clinton Valley Chapter.
Electrofishing sampling was done this year to establish baseline populations and the sampling will be continued for 5 years to gage the success of the Project.
In July of 2019 the Chapter submitted its application to TU National Embrace A Stream Program and was awarded $5000 to continue the restoration work in a new section of the stream.
Paint Creek Background
- Paint Creek begins at a bottom-draw dam at Lake Orion and flows southeast 15 miles before joining with the Clinton River in the City of Rochester.
- The average gradient is 17.7 feet per mile and the average width is 26.3 feet.
- It is a high-quality, cold-water transitional stream (63.5 – 67.1 deg. F).
- The cool water results from the bottom draw dam at the beginning of the stream and the groundwater inflow throughout the stream.
- Sixty-eight thousand people live within the Paint Creek watershed (70 sq. miles).
- The stream has been stocked with brown trout almost every year since 1953.
- The average number of trout stocked in each year is 5900 at five sites.
- Since 2004 only Gilchrist Creek brown trout have been stocked in Paint Creek.
- The stream supports a documented naturally producing brown trout population.
- Most of the natural production occurs in the section between Gunn Road and Tienken Road.
- Paint Creek is managed as a Type 1 stream.
- Except the portion of the stream from Gunn Road to Tienken Road which is subject to gear restrictions, i.e. artificial lures only, daily possession limit of 2 trout and minimum size limit of 14 inches.
2016 Michigan TU Assessment and Report
- In 2015 Michigan TU evaluated the Paint Creek instream habitat through their River Stewards Program.
- The assessment and evaluation were conducted under the supervision of Michigan TU’s aquatic biologist.
- Information about the stream bedform structure (run, riffle, or pool), bottom substrate, and instream fish habitat was collected from the entire length of the stream.
- The inventory assessed the habitat quantity, quality, and diversity in Paint Creek.
- The purpose for collecting this data was to identify instream habitat factors that may be limiting this brown trout fishery.
- In October 2016 this data was compiled, analyzed and set forth in the Paint Creek Instream Fish Habitat Assessment Report.
- There were several areas of need identified in the Report.
- Although Paint Creek has ample hard substrate and diverse run, riffle, pool structure, what it is lacking is instream adult fish cover.
- One factor being that the stream has a limited amount of instream woody habitat, especially in the 2.3-mile section from Tienken Road to the Clinton River.
