DESCRIPTION
This will be a design project to replace a culvert under a public road opening up passage between the pocket estuary and stream in North Penn Cove. Identified in the Culvert Prioritization project #2, SFEG has created some preliminary desgins, based on CAF efforts.
Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group and Island County Public Works will work on a design to remove a fish passage barrier, culvert #3345, under Scenic Heights Road along Penn Cove near Oak Harbor, WA. This culvert was identified in the Culvert Prioritization Inventory conducted by Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group and Island County. Recent research demonstrates that outmigrating juvenile salmon from the Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish Rivers utilize Whidbey Island pocket estuaries for rearing and will travel up to 200 meters up coastal streams to access resources such as food and shelter. The presence of undersized culverts on these streams have been proven to be detrimental to juveniles by interfering with access to the streams and preventing natural water flow. Removal of this fish passage barrier will open up critical juvenile rearing habitat for ESA-listed Threatened Chinook, chum, pink, and coho salmon. Fish passage barrier removal is one of the most rapid and cost-effective ways of increasing the amount of accessible habitat for salmon.
