Chelan County salmon projects get $1.1 million in grants

Posted on 17. Dec, 2009 by nevonnemcdaniels in News

Ten Chelan County salmon recovery projects have received $1,143,123 in grants from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, part of $42.8 million in grants awarded statewide to protect and restore salmon populations.

Chelan County grants

Cascadia Conservation District: $87,673

Reactivating the Entiat National Fish Hatchery floodplain

The Cascadia Conservation District, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, will use this grant to construct the first phase of a habitat restoration project to
restore lost functions in the Entiat River at the Entiat National Fish Hatchery. The district
will use the grant to remove a levee and roads to partially reconnect the floodplain
adjacent to the hatchery. The levee does little to protect hatchery infrastructure but
prevents beneficial flood flows from accessing a portion of the historic floodplain. The
lower Entiat River has been altered significantly following European settlement by
localized channelization, removal of riparian vegetation, development in the floodplain
and dam building. This project affords a rare opportunity to address these issues over a
significant length of river by attempting to return those missing elements of river
function. A second phase will place multiple logjams to further increase floodplain
connectivity, as well as the create off-channel habitat to improve rearing and high-flow
conditions for fish. Project partners will contribute $198,213 in additional grants, cash
and donated labor.

Chelan County: $42,108

Analyzing alternatives for reconnecting Peshastin Creek

The Chelan County Natural Resources Department will use this grant to analyze
alternatives for the largest channel reconnection project on Peshastin Creek. U.S.
Highway 97 has disconnected historic channel and floodplain habitat from the creek.
The project would reconnect nearly one-half mile of the creek channel. Peshastin Creek
is home to steelhead, spring Chinook and bull trout. The county will use data presented
in the assessment to develop and analyze design alternatives and complete partial
designs. Chelan County will contribute $12,690 from a local grant. (09-1473)

Chelan County: $49,583

Assessing a project to reconnect Nason Creek with its floodplain

The Chelan County Natural Resources Department will use this grant to complete an
alternatives analysis of a project to reconnect Nason Creek with two disconnected
historic oxbows. The county will evaluate the possibility of breaching the levee at two
sites where the Burlington Northern Sante Fe railroad cut off two former river channels.
Nason Creek is home to spring Chinook salmon, which are endangered, steelhead and
bull trout. Breaching the levee will reconnect 107 acres of channel and floodplain habitat
as well as 7 square miles of the Roaring Creek sub-watershed and 5 square miles of
the Coulter Creek sub-watershed. Chelan County will contribute $49,583 from a local
grant.

Chelan County: $29,750

Reconnecting Nason Creek with the Upper White Pine floodplain

The Chelan County Natural Resources Department will use this grant to partially fund
an alternatives analysis for a levee breach to reconnect Nason Creek with the upper
White Pine floodplain. The construction of the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad
narrowed the Nason Creek channel and disconnected it from the adjacent floodplain.
The project will increase places for juvenile salmon to rest during high flows and rear
during summer’s low flows. Nason Creek contains major spawning areas for spring
Chinook salmon, which are endangered, and supports steelhead and bull trout. Chelan
County will contribute $5,250 from a local grant.

Chelan County: $104,296

Reconnecting the Entiat River to the Foreman floodplain

The Chelan County Natural Resources Department will use this grant to remove 325
feet of levees to reconnect the Entiat River to a 5.4-acre, forested floodplain. The work
also will deepen an existing wetland to create .2 mile of side channel habitat for juvenile
steelhead and spring Chinook salmon to rest and grow. The construction of two levees
on the lower Entiat River has narrowed the river channel and disconnected it from the
adjacent floodplain. The lower Entiat River contains major spawning areas for steelhead
and spring Chinook salmon, which are endangered, and is a bull trout core area. Chelan
County will contribute $104,296 from a local grant.

Chelan-Douglas Land Trust $33,600

Preparing a project to protect the Entiat River at Tyee Ranch

The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will use this grant to do the preliminary work to buy a
volunteer land preservation agreement to protect extensive riverbank, floodplain and
wetlands along the Entiat River at the Tyee Ranch. The land includes about 2.4 miles of
riverbank. The river is critical habitat for spring Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull
trout. This reach has high complexity and an unconfined active floodplain partially
limited by the levees that Cascadia Conservation District is proposing to remove. The
property has large pristine areas, some degradation and an opportunity to conduct
restoration activities. The property is highly desirable for development, and is in a family
trust where the current members prefer to preserve the majority of the property. Chelan-
Douglas Land Trust will contribute $6,000 in labor.

Chelan-Douglas Land Trust: $67,800

Protecting land along the Entiat River

The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will use this grant to protect 65 acres on the Entiat
River. About half of the property lies west of Entiat River Road and includes both sides
of three bends and a long run of the river. The project would protect about .7 mile of
river and its associated floodplain and wetlands. The Entiat River watershed is critical
habitat for steelhead, bull trout and spring Chinook salmon. Acquisition will protect this
pristine area from the negative effects of housing development. This property provides a
critical link to surrounding property owned by the U.S. Forest Service and it adds to the
corridor of protected land in the Entiat Stillwaters. The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will
contribute $411,100 from a local grant and donated labor.

Chelan-Douglas Land Trust: $64,575

Protecting the White River Nason View

The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will use this grant to buy 117 acres on the White River,
including about 1.2 miles of riverbank on one side. Land on the opposite side of the river
is owned by land trust and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The
property is almost entirely within the floodplain. The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will
contribute $545,000 from a local grant and donated labor.

Chelan-Douglas Land Trust: $496,238

Protecting the White River at Tall Timber Ranch

The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will use this grant to buy a voluntary land preservation
agreement to protect 40 acres along the White and Napequa rivers. The agreement
extinguishes all development rights and limits other uses in two, 20-acre areas along
the rivers’ shorelines. The agreement allows only non-motorized trail use (except for
handicapped access) and activities similar to those of the existing Tall Timber Ranch, a
100-acre Presbyterian church camp, within the two, 20-acre areas. The agreement will
allow for maintenance of the U.S. Forest Service’s logjam installed several years ago,
and for fish and habitat monitoring. The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will contribute
$87,572 from a local grant and donated labor.

Washington Rivers Conservancy: $167,500

Enhancing the Lower Wenatchee river flow

The Washington Rivers Conservancy will use this grant to improve habitat by increasing
the amount of water in the lower Wenatchee River. The conservancy will replace the
Pioneer Water Users Association’s conveyance system, which is a gravity-fed, open
ditch, with an enclosed, pressurized system. The conservancy also will change the
association’s point of diversion from the flow-limited Wenatchee River to the Columbia
River. This project will put 15 cubic feet per second more water back into the lower 7.5
miles of the Wenatchee River, benefiting fish habitat, particularly during low flows. The
Pioneer Water Users Association operates and maintains Gunn Ditch, which supplies
water for agricultural and residential irrigation. The water will be protected permanently
as an in-stream flow right in the Washington States Trust Water Rights Program.
Washington Rivers Conservancy will contribute $4,786,966 from multiple grants and
donated labor.

Several populations of salmon were put on the federal list of endangered species in 1991. By then, the number of salmon had fallen to only 40 percent of historic levels in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California. By 1999, almost three-fourths of Washington’s watersheds were affected by Endangered Species Act listings of salmon and bull trout.

Those listings set off a series of activities including the formation of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board to oversee the investment of state and federal funds for salmon recovery. Since 2000, the board has awarded nearly $404 million in grants, funded by federal and state dollars, for 1,307 projects. Grantees have contributed nearly $160 million in matching resources, bringing the total investment to more than $564 million.

The funding comes from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and is matched by state funds from the sale of bonds. The funding for these grants was approved by Congress and the Washington Legislature earlier this year. On Thursday, Washington State received news that $80 million in 2010 federal funding for Washington and several other western states is in the final budget bill before Congress.

The Salmon Recovery Funding Board’s citizen members are appointed by the Governor and they are: Harry Barber, Washougal; Commissioner Donald “Bud” Hover, Okanogan County; Bob Nichols, Olympia; Commissioner Steve Tharinger, Clallam County; and David Troutt, Dupont.

Five state agency directors or their designees also serve as members (Conservation Commission, Department of Ecology, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Transportation). Staff support to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the process of project recruitment and review is provided by the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office.