DESCRIPTION
Additional information will be collected through physical investigations as well as landowner and community outreach to inform and develop several preliminary design alternatives for estuary restoration at Point No Point in Kitsap County. The design alternatives will explore options that would allow tidal inundation and fish access to up to 32 acres of freshwater wetlands that were historically salt marsh and have been cut off from saltwater for the last hundred years by dikes and a tidegate. This project is the top ranked project out of 420 potential Puget Sound Chinook recovery nearshore habitat projects on the Puget Sound Kitsap County shoreline, according to a study completed in 2016. Early feasibility assessment, early stakeholder engagement, and conceptual design work have been completed for the project. This phase will collect additional site information needed to flesh out a restoration design concept to develop design alternatives and compare the alternatives including a full hydraulic analysis to determine changes to groundwater and seawater, and effects of Sea Level Rise on the designs. Additional community and stakeholder outreach will be conducted to develop and evaluate preliminary design alternatives and select a preferred design alternative to be developed to a permit ready design.
Mid-Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group proposes to develop a preliminary design for restoration of the Point No Point barrier embayment, building upon the conceptual design, feasibility study, and landowner outreach already completed. The primary objectives of this phase are to (1) complete additional stakeholder and landowner engagement efforts; (2) collect additional hydrology, groundwater, and geotechnical data; (3) complete wetland and habitat surveys; (4) cultural resources assessment; and (5) preliminary design and alternatives analysis. The design alternatives will explore options to allow tidal inundation and fish access to up to 32 acres of freshwater wetlands that were historically salt marsh and have been cut off from saltwater for the last century by dikes and a tide gate. Restoration of tidal flow to the Point No Point marsh was the highest ranked project for restoration of nearshore habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon in the West Sound Nearshore Integration and Synthesis (2016). In addition to improving cross-shore connectivity and tidal flow, the project will improve sediment transport processes as well as remove physical barriers to fish passage by reopening access to the former salt marsh. The ultimate goal of this project is to restore tidal influence and fish access to the Point No Point marsh complex, improving habitat conditions for out-migrating juvenile Chinook salmon and other salmonids, as well as a suite of other species.
