Local projects underway to assist and restore aquatic habitat
Restoration projects are underway this summer throughout Western Washington’s Chehalis Basin to restore habitat for fish and other aquatic species and help protect communities and landscapes from flood damage.
The Chehalis Basin is comprised of nearly 3,400 miles of streams and rivers that provide habitat to fish and amphibians, including salmon and the federally endangered Oregon spotted frog.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shared that in order to help address declining salmon and steelhead runs, representatives from Quinault Indian Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), along with other technical experts, drafted the Aquatic Species Restoration Plan (ASRP).
The team worked with community members, the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Office of Chehalis Basin, state agencies, and local governments to shape the plan and develop an implementation strategy.
According to WDFW, five key projects are starting or continuing this summer under the ASRP, a main component of the Chehalis Basin Strategy.
Beaver dam analogs
Where: Multiple locations in Grays Harbor, Lewis, and Mason counties
Project sponsor: Wild Fish Conservancy
Cost: $286,000
What’s happening: 45 beaver dam analogs — human-created structures designed to mimic natural beaver dams — installed on eight streams across the lower Chehalis Basin; 2.5 miles of stream restoration; 1 acre of riparian planting.
Benefits: Increasing aquatic habitat diversity, reconnecting streams and floodplains, storing sediment and water, and providing cool water refuges for native fish and wildlife. Beaver dams help create ponds and wetlands, which provide important rearing habitat for salmonids and other aquatic species.
Timeline: Construction began in summer 2022 and is wrapping up summer 2024. Project effectiveness — including stream temperature, fish use, and fish passage — will be monitored through 2026.
Satsop River
Where: Grays Harbor County
Project sponsor: Grays Harbor Conservation District
Cost: $7.85 million
What’s happening: 4.5 miles of river restoration; 614 acres of riparian enhancement, including invasive species control; 248 acres of riparian plantings; 33 acres of riparian buffer creation; 80 engineered log jams installed.
Benefits: Reconnecting and restoring the floodplain; reducing channel migration to allow riparian forests to mature; increasing channel stability along rapidly eroding banks; diversifying habitat; reducing water temperature; capturing sediment.
Timeline: The project is occurring in two phases. Construction began in summer 2023 and will wrap up in summer 2025. Riparian revegetation, enhancement, and monitoring began in winter 2022 and will continue through winter 2028.
Sediment wedge restoration
Where: Grays Harbor County
Project sponsor: WDFW
Cost: $1.49 million (state Recreation and Conservation Office grant)
What’s happening: Sediment wedge restoration on Delezene Creek, a tributary of the lower Chehalis River, and Schafer Creek, a tributary of the Wynoochee River.
Benefits: Creating or enhancing cool water refuges for native fish and wildlife.
Timeline: Construction at Schafer site summer 2024 and Delezene site early fall 2025.
South Fork Newaukum River
Where: Lewis County
Project sponsor: Lewis Conservation District
Cost: $305,000 (Erosion Management Program), $160,829 (ASRP)
What’s happening: 5 acres of riparian habitat enhancement, including removal of invasive plants and supplemental planting; 3 acres of new riparian planting; two engineered log jams installed.
Benefits: Restoring the floodplain and reducing erosion.
Timeline: Construction summer 2024; planting fall 2024-spring 2025; riparian maintenance through fall 2028.
Riverbend Ranch
Where: Thurston County
Project sponsor: Thurston Conservation District
Cost: $7.67 million
What’s happening: 2.5 miles of river restoration; 1 mile of stream made accessible by correcting a fish passage barrier; 135 acres of riparian planting and invasive species control; 76 large wood structures installed; 50 pools created for fish habitat.
Benefits: Reconnecting the floodplain, restoring natural river processes, lowering stream temperatures, and diversifying habitat. The work done for this project will slow the river, reducing erosion and providing safe spaces for fish and other aquatic species during floods. This project will particularly benefit spring Chinook salmon.
Timeline: Construction summer 2024; riparian planting winter 2024–25. Fish passage improvements were completed in summer 2023.
The Office of Chehalis Basin, WDFW, local conservation districts, and Wild Fish Conservancy are hosting a webinar from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, to discuss these projects and answer questions.
Learn more below about the ASRP projects that are funded through the Chehalis Basin Strategy and register for the webinar through Zoom.
More information is available at chehalisbasinstrategy.com.