DESCRIPTION
Harper Estuary is a small but significant pocket estuary with salt marsh fringe, mud flats and small freshwater streams, surrounded by lowland forests. The estuary is bisected by SE Olympiad Drive and tidal exchange is limited by a 36-inch diameter culvert . Kitsap County proposes to remove the 33% passable culvert on SE Olympiad Drive where it bisects Harper Estuary and replace it with a 120-foot bridge to allow full tidal exchange and unimpeded fish passage. This restoration project also includes removing road fill and associated shoreline armor, building a pedestrian pathway and upgrading associated stormwater treatment. This project will restore tidal habitat connectivity to intertidal habitat important for juvenile salmonid rearing, restore habitat processes (e.g. sediment transport) and allow unimpeded fish access to estuarine and stream habitat upstream of the barrier. This project will complete the final piece of a large, multi-agency restoration effort. Priority species to benefit are Chinook. For over 15 years, Kitsap County, WA Departments of Fish and Wildlife, Ecology, Natural Resources, and the Suquamish Tribe have worked together to engage the community and restore the estuary. The first phase removed historic bricks and fill, replaced a small barrier culvert on NE Southworth Dr. and completed the bridge analysis and design. With this final component of the restoration completed, natural processes of this nearshore and estuarine habitat will be fully restore
Harper Estuary is a small but significant pocket estuary with salt marsh fringe, mud flats and small freshwater streams, surrounded by lowland forests. The estuary is bisected by SE Olympiad Drive and tidal exchange is limited by a 36-inch diameter culvert. Kitsap County proposes to remove the 33% passable culvert on SE Olympiad Drive where it bisects Harper Estuary and replace it with a 120-foot bridge to allow full tidal exchange and unimpeded fish passage to ~2.0 mi of natural upstream habitat. This restoration project also includes removing road fill and associated shoreline armor, building a pedestrian pathway and upgrading associated stormwater treatment. This project will restore tidal habitat connectivity to intertidal habitats important for juvenile salmonid rearing, restore habitat processes (e.g. sediment transport), and allow unimpeded fish access to estuarine and stream habitat upstream of the barrier (2.0 miles upstream habitat). This project will complete the final piece of a large, multi-agency restoration effort. Priority species to benefit are Chinook. For over 15 years, Kitsap County, WA Departments of Fish and Wildlife, Ecology, Natural Resources, and the Suquamish Tribe have worked together to engage the community and restore the estuary. The first phase removed historic bricks and fill, replaced a smaller barrier culvert on NE Southworth Dr. and completed the bridge analysis and design. The bridge will complete the final component of the restoration.
