DESCRIPTION
The objective of this project was to eliminate mortality of listed species in the mainstem Methow and Barkley Diversion side-channel caused by annual excavation of the river bed to create a push up dam for irrigators on the Barkley ditch, as well as by maintenance and operation of the BIC diversion, in the side-channel and within the tail out of the Barkley diversion pool, and upstream of the fish screen in the open canal. Trout Unlimited (TU) and partners the Barkley Irrigation Company (Barkley/BIC), the Methow Conservancy (MC) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) built a permanent pressurized system approximately 2 miles downstream of the current diversion to serve all Barkley irrigation users. Barkley and MVID diversions were consolidated y moving the Barkley point of diversion (POD) downstream approximately 4 miles to reduce maintenance impacts and share the already completed (2006) investment in MVID's east side diversion. By moving/modifying the Barkley Diversion, Bear Creek was reconnected to the Methow River, rather than flowing into the Barkley Canal. Due to modifications and efficiencies related to upgrading the systems, the perpetual water saving from this project is 26 cfs. Additional funding for this project was contributed by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Upper Columbia Programmatic through contracts 70143, 76789, and 78279.
This project was s a large-scale restoration effort in the Methow to improve ESA-listed salmonid productivity in the mainstem Methow River in what is known as M2 Reach. This was accomplished by moving the Barkley point of diversion (POD) downstream approximately 4 miles. This project also eliminated mortality to listed fish species by moving the Barkley diversion downstream and pumping water from below the MVID diversion into the historic Barkley ditch which was piped for piped for the Barkley Irrigation District. The project completed project includes:
Elimination of a major irrigation diversion on the Methow River.
Elimination of mortality of ESA listed species from annual excavation of the Barkley side channel and mainstem push-up dam by moving the point of diversion.
Elimination of fish stranding and mortality in the upper 0.5 miles of the Barkley ditch annually by moving the point of diversion and decommissioning the headworks.
Increased instream flow by over 26 cfs for approximately 4 miles of the mainstem Methow River and side channels by moving the POD downstream.
Permanently enhancing instream flows by 10 cfs for approximately 6 additional miles by improving the efficiency of the Barkley irrigation system.
Enhance instream flows up to an additional 16 cfs through savings from the wedded full pressure-on demand MVID/Barkley eastside diversion system.