DESCRIPTION
Ala Spit County Park lies on the northeastern shore of Whidbey Island and consists of an 8-acre sand and gravel spit, 4 acres of uplands, and 5,000 linear feet of beach and tidelands in Skagit Bay. The Spit and associated pocket estuary were formed and are maintained by accreted sediments transported alongshore mostly from a southern feeder bluff. The pocket estuary includes a lagoon, estuarine saltmarsh, and mudflat habitats. Development at the site is limited to a parking area, access driveway, and bulkhead. Public use at the site includes clam digging, fishing, crabbing, bird watching, dog walking, beach combing and picnicking. This proposal addresses a feasibility study to evaluate options for the rock groin and final bulkhead section 435') removal to complete the restoration efforts at Ala Spit County Park. Removal of the rock groin would completely restore the littoral transport to the Ala Spit drift cell, as well as add to the aesthetic value of the part as a natural place. The benefit of removing the groin would be both aesthetic and recovery of forage fish spawning habitat over the footprint of the groin (approximately 10,000 square feet). Ala Spit is located in the highest ranked geographic area (area 1) in accordance with the WRIA 6 Salmon Recovery Plan. The site is within 3 miles of Skagit River estuary. The Skagit Chinook Recover Plan also identifies this area as a priority for early rearing of wild fry migrant Chinook salmon originating from the Skagit River
Ala Spit County Park lies on the northeastern shore of Whidbey Island and consists of an 8-acre sand and gravel spit, 4 acres of uplands, and 5,000 linear feet of beach and tidelands in Skagit Bay. Ala Spit is located in the highest ranked geographic area (area 1) in accordance with the WRIA 6 Salmon Recovery Plan. The site is within 3 miles of Skagit River estuary. The Skagit Chinook Recover Plan also identifies this area as a priority for early rearing of wild fry migrant Chinook salmon originating from the Skagit River (Beamer 2007, SRSC & WDFW 2005). The Spit and associated pocket estuary were formed and are maintained by accreted sediments transported alongshore mostly from a southern feeder bluff. The pocket estuary includes a lagoon, estuarine saltmarsh, and mudflat habitats. Development at the site is limited to a parking area, access driveway, and bulkhead. Public use at the site includes clam digging, fishing, crabbing, bird watching, dog walking, beach combing and picnicking.
This project funded a feasibility study to evaluate removal options for the rock groin and final bulkhead sections (435 feet) and parking lot restructuring alternatives and complete a preliminary design for the preferred option. Removal of the rock groin will completely restore the littoral transport to the Ala Spit drift cell, add to the aesthetic value of the park as a natural place, as well as potentially restore forage fish spawning habitat over the footprint of the groin (approximately 10,000 square feet).
