• To minimize and reduce the effects of water diversions, take action to insure compliance with state water laws to address seasonal diversion, off-stream reservoirs, bypass flows protective of coho salmon and other anadromous salmonids and the normal hydrograph, and avoidance of adverse impacts caused by water diversion;
• Discourage instream flow diversions in tributaries with cooler water temperatures for thermal refugia delivered to the warmer North and South Forks and mainstem Big River in the summer;
• Land managers should work to reduce the temperature of water flowing into the Middle and Coastal subbasins. In order to do this, they should maintain and/or establish adequate streamside protection zones to increase shade and reduce heat inputs to Big River and its tributaries throughout the basin;
• Follow the procedures and guidelines outlined by NCRWQCB to protect water quality from ground applications of pesticides.

• Consider modifying debris accumulations to facilitate fish passage where necessary;
• Adequately fund prioritization and upgrading of culverts to provide fish passage within the range of coho salmon and to pass 100-year flows and the expected debris loads;

• To reduce sediment delivery to Big River, land managers should continue their efforts such as road improvements, good maintenance, and decommissioning and other erosion control practices associated with landuse activities throughout the basin. Thirty-six CDFG stream surveys had road sediment inventory and control as a top tier tributary recommendation;
• Support and encourage existing and active road management programs undertaken by landowners throughout the basin;
• Map unstable soils and use soil mapping to guide land-use decisions, road design, THPs, and other activities that can promote erosion;
• Sediment sources from eroding streambanks and adjacent hillslopes should be identified and treated to reduce sediment generation and delivery to creeks;
• Limit unauthorized and impacting winter use of unsurfaced roads and recreational trails to decrease fine sediment loads;
• Develop erosion control projects similar to the North Fork Ten Mile River erosion control plan (Mendocino Department of Transportation 2001).

Riparian and Instream Habitat Improvement Activities

• Improve instream structure for juvenile ambush escape and cover. Thirty-one CDFG stream surveys and the mainstem Big River have increase escape cover as a top tier tributary recommendation;
• Add LWD to stream channels where appropriate/feasible to develop habitat diversity and to increase shelter complexity. In addition, there is a need to leave large wood on stream banks and in estuarine channels for potential recruitment into stream channels and the estuary;
• Maintain and improve existing riparian cover where needed;
• Encourage growth and retention of nearstream conifers;
• Ensure that any land management activities include protection and preservation of stream and riparian habitats and maintain or improve ecological integrity within the basin;
• Ensure that high quality habitat is protected from degradation. Salmonid habitat conditions in the Big River Basin are generally best in the Coastal Subbasin, and mixed in the Middle and Inland subbasins;
• Consider the use of management strategies such as conservation easements to maximize potential benefits to aquatic habitats from near-stream forest protection.

• State Parks, DFG, MRC, and HTC should continue and expand existing monitoring of anadromous salmonid populations to include some winter and spring fish sampling;
• Support stream gage installations and maintenance to establish a long term record of Big River hydrologic conditions;
• Additional investigations of the physical characteristics of Big River are needed to re-evaluate the Sediment Source Analysis. A regional curve of bankfull dimensions vs. drainage area should be developed for Mendocino County and used to validate CGS (2004) bankfull discharge estimates for Big River;
• Hillslope and in-stream monitoring proposed by the MRC in their Watershed Analysis (2003) should be carried out and additional monitoring programs throughout the basin should planned with respect to to MRC techniques;
• A study examining how sediment plugs moved downstream from historic splash dam locations over time on air photos is recommended;
• Continue water temperature monitoring at current locations and expand these efforts where appropriate;
• Further study of timberland herbicide use is recommended.