DESCRIPTION
This fish barrier is ranked 61st on the Lead Entity list of more than 2700 documented barriers needing correction in the Chehalis Basin. It is located under the Minkler County Road at the 2.3 mile mark. Stevens Creek flows under the county road and the culvert outfall empties directly into the Chehalis River at river mile 15.8. The Chehalis River is tidally influenced at this location. This barrier culvert is undersized and has an outfall drop during medium to low tidal levels but has no outfall drop during high tides. For this reason it has been determined to be 33% passable. The existing culvert is a 6 feet diameter steel culvert 104 feet long. Its slope is 2.4%, far exceeding current requirements of less than 1%, contributing to its barrier status. Stevens Creek has a bankfull width of 16 feet. The correction would be a bottomless arch culvert 21 feet wide and 120 feet long installed using the stream simulation design. This correction would primarily benefit coho and chum salmon, but could also benefit other salmonid juvenile species in addition to searun and resident cutthroat. Correcting this barrier would open roughly 3.26 miles of prime spawning and rearing habitat. The watershed flows from forest managed lands owned by the state and Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and is in good condition. Immediately upstream of the barrier culvert the property is in private ownership.
This restoration project was a fish barrier correction ranked 61st on the Lead Entity list of more than 2,700 documented culvert barriers in the Chehalis Basin. It is located under Minkler County Road at mile mark 2.3 in Grays Harbor County. Stevens Creek flows under the county road at this location and the culvert outfall empties directly into the Chehalis River at river mile 15.8 near Montesano. The Chehalis River is tidally influenced at this location. This barrier culvert was undersized and had an outfall drop during medium to low tidal levels. For this reason it was determined to be 33% passable. A pipe arch culvert was installed using the stream simulation design. This correction primarily benefits coho and chum salmon, but could also benefit other juvenile salmonid species such as Chinook and steel head as well as searun and resident cutthroat. Correcting this barrier opened roughly 3.26 miles of prime spawning and rearing habitat.
The actual funds are higher than the proposed due to a cost increase amendment of $5,000 and an increase in sponsor match contribution of $112,478.
