Restoration projects flowing through Washington streams

The fifth round of Streamflow Restoration Grants closed to new applications in March. While those applications are still undergoing our review process, grant recipients from previous rounds have been hard at work improving streamflows, aquatic habitats and floodplains across the state.

In recent months grant recipients have completed a handful of projects at least partially funded by an Ecology grant. Read on to learn more.

Little Klickitat River Water Rights Acquisition

Recipient: Washington Water Trust

Ecology grant funding contribution: $1,359,641.72

Grant recipients at the Washington Water Trust permanently acquired water rights in the Little Klickitat River totaling 547.3 acre-feet near Goldendale. An acre foot is the amount of water it would take to cover one acre (a football field minus the end zones) under a foot of water.

The Little Klickitat River Water Rights Acquisition benefits Spring Creek and the Little Klickitat River in the Klickitat Watershed. Spring Creek is an important source of cold-water inflow to the Little Klickitat River, which experiences low flows and elevated water temperatures in the summer.

The primary goal of the project was to improve late summer streamflows and habitat conditions for endangered steelhead.

Wenatchee Basin Alluvial Water Storage and Streamflow Restoration Phase 2

Recipient: Chelan County Natural Resource Department

Ecology grant funding contribution: $478,896.67

This Chelan County Natural Resource Department project improved streamflow in Chumstick, Peshastin and Mission Creeks through the restoration of meadow and stream habitat in four sites near Wenatchee. The four project sites were East Fork Mission Creek, Camas Meadows, Bjork Creek and Larsen Creek. This project provided improved floodplain storage in the headwaters and improved habitat for Endangered Species Act listed steelhead. Additional benefits include improved water quality, fire resilience and climate change resilience.

The project goal was to restore about 201 acre-feet of natural water storage that had been lost to a process called incision. Incision occurs when a stream cuts downward into its bed rather than eroding the banks. This lowers the water table and separates the stream from the floodplain. Incision can occur naturally at high elevations, though the process is heavily accelerated by human activity like channel straightening, logging or land use changes.

Improvements to the area included culvert replacements, engineered logjams, post-assisted log structures, leaky dams, beaver dam analogs and newly planted trees.

Post-assisted log structures and post-assisted slash structures are low-tech restoration tools that use wooden posts to temporarily secure logs in streams, promoting natural wood accumulation and enhancing stream and floodplain processes. Beaver dam analogs are temporary structures intended to mimic the effects of beaver dams by creating small ponds that elevate water tables, maintain floodplain connectivity and increase riparian habitat.

This meadow and stream restoration effort increased riparian area and wetland function, improved fish and wildlife habitat, reduced water temperatures, improved fire resilience and mitigated climate change impacts.

Kachess River Restoration Project Phase 2

Recipient: Kittitas Conservation Trust

Ecology grant funding contribution: $1,926,025.00

Kittitas Conservation Trust has completed two phases of the Kachess River Restoration Project to improve spawning, rearing and migratory conditions for ESA listed bull trout. The project focused on improving a one-mile reach of Kachess River that dewaters every year. When a river dewaters, the water goes underground as opposed to staying in the stream. A stream dewatering differs from a stream going dry because there is still water in the system, just not above ground.

Improvements to the area included the construction of large wood and engineered logjams, creating 61 structures with associated pools. Floodplain reconnection, tributary connection and side channel construction resulted in the creation of 13 acres of off-channel habitat. Increased floodplain connection, the new high flow side channel, and 32 constructed channel and bank stabilization features will work together to reduce erosion and channel incision. A new trailhead and road were constructed outside the floodplain to minimize impacts to Kachess River and its tributaries.

Unnamed Dempsey Creek Tributary at Shawn Dr. SW Fish Passage

Recipient: Thurston County Public Works Department

Ecology grant funding contribution: $926,000.00

Thurston County Public Works removed an undersized culvert at the Shawn Dr. SW crossing on an unnamed tributary to Dempsey Creek in Olympia.

The culvert under Shawn Dr. SW was installed in the 1970s by a private party and the stream has not functioned naturally for more than 50 years. This culvert was buried under 10 feet of road fill, essentially creating a dam and a barrier to fish passage. The culvert was undersized and inadequate to handle the stream flow, even in low water conditions. During high water events, flood waters could not pass through as the culvert size was too small. Instead, the water pooled behind the culvert, causing slope instabilities and erosion. Unable to flow into the stream, water often ran into the road. The roadway became a source of pollution, with floodwaters conveying road material and contaminants into the creek.

In addition to removing the culvert, improvements included the installation of a 33-foot-long bridge and realigning about 130 feet of the stream channel.

The result was increased streamflow and improved aquatic habitat. Now cutthroat, steelhead and coho salmon have year-round access to an additional 1.73 miles of spawning and rearing habitat.

Streamflow restoration grants

The Streamflow Restoration Competitive Grants Program began in 2018 with the passage of the Streamflow Restoration Law. The Washington state legislature authorized $300 million in bond funds over the course of 15 years to help implement projects that improve streamflow. Ecology administers these funds through streamflow restoration competitive grants. Including the recent $40 million grant round, the Legislature has authorized $180 million to date.

Organizations eligible for these grants include Washington state agencies, local governments, federal government agencies, tribal governments with reservation lands or treaty rights within Washington, and non-profit organizations. To learn more about these grants please visit our Streamflow Restoration Grants webpage or email us at [email protected].