DESCRIPTION
This project inventoried, assessed and prioritized potential barriers to fish passage on streams in the Nisqually River watershed. This included culverts, dams, and identifying potential oxbow and wetland reconnections. The project determined which structures were presently restricting fish passage, and prioritized these structures for repair using WDFW barrier assessment and stream survey protocol. Fish passage barriers on both private and public lands were included. The Pierce Conservation District utilized its existing barrier database (Microsoft Access) to organize data such as location information, physical measurements, barrier status, digital site photos and prioritization information. GPS data was collected and used to generate GIS maps showing site locations and barrier status of structures. GIS data and information from the database were integrated into SSHIAP and the WDFW fish passage barrier database.
The Pierce Conservation District has successfully completed an identical inventory of the Puyallup River watershed and key and Gig Harbor Peninsulas (east WRIA 15). The District has trained staff, equipment and computer database needed to complete an inventory for the Nisqually. The database created for the Puyallup watershed has been used to identify and prioritize projects that were implemented this year. All data collected, including the database and GIS, was available for distribution via hard copy and on CD-ROM to all interested parties.