The purpose of this Project (“the Project”) is to create and permit a design to restore the 287-acre Kuhlanapo Wetland Preserve (Preserve) including restoring Manning Creek to benefit the Clear Lake hitch (Lavinia exilicauda chi), which was listed as Threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) in 2014. The Project will focus on improving fish passage within the Manning Creek lower subwatershed, re-connecting a historical tributary to a wetland and Clear Lake, and restoring native vegetation while suppressing invasive species. This Project is on the ancestral lands of the Kuhlanapo, who stewarded the land since time immemorial and prior to the arrival of European settlers. Kuhlanapo is Pomo for ‘water lily people.’ The Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians (BVBPI) and Lake County Land Trust (LCLT) have created a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the co-management and stewardship of the Preserve, as well as the development of the Project. 

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Restoration of the Kuhlanapo Wetland Preserve will enhance the spawning and rearing habitat for Clear Lake hitch, a fish culturally significant to the Lake County Pomo Tribes. Clear Lake hitch spawn in Manning Creek and juveniles mature in tule wetlands on the lake. Research by tribal, local, state, and federal agencies and partners indicate a strong risk of extirpation if stream and wetland habitat improvements are not implemented. The Clear Lake hitch population has declined due to the alteration of Clear Lake tributaries (called “hydromodification”), the elimination and disruption of spawning habitat and nursery areas in shorelines and wetlands around the lake, and barriers to upstream spawning habitat. 

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The concept design, when implemented, will restore the lower historic Manning Creek flowpath to the lake, avoiding a fish passage obstacle, as well as improve a secondary overflow channel which will enhance and increase suitable stream and wetland habitat on the Preserve. Restoring more consistent flow to the lake will increase available riparian/wetland habitat by approximately 80 acres. Distributing creek flow across the wetland through the secondary channel will reduce flow velocities, resulting in sediment and nutrient deposition before it reaches the lake. Wetland restoration will enhance water quality by filtering runoff sourced from within the 8,960-acre Manning Creek Watershed thus reducing sediment-bound phosphorus from entering the lake and contributing to cyanobacteria blooms in Clear Lake. 

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​Additionally, seasonal foot paths for public use will be added, including paths to access ecological sites and ceremonial gathering places in consultation with tribal partners at BVBPI. Fences and other infrastructure within the Preserve will be removed to enhance wildlife and water movement within the wetland.