DESCRIPTION
Yakima County Public Services contracted with GeoEngineers to complete the final design, special provisions, and cost estimate for a stream restoration, levee removal, and stream relocation project on Lower Cowiche Creek, a tributary of the Naches River near Yakima, WA. The project site was identified in previous studies as critical for plans to return lower Cowiche Creek to a less confined floodplain. Removing levees and relocating the stream back onto its historical floodplain will greatly enhance fish and wildlife habitat conditions. The final design plans address habitat improvement needs for ESA listed steelhead and bull trout along with spring Chinook, coho, and other riverine inhabitants.
This project is Phase 2 of the L Cowiche Creek Riparian Easement and Stream Restoration Project. Yakima County is currently working with the landowner on Phase 1 of the project (SRFB project #10-1909), which is to acquire a conservation easement through the historic floodplain to accommodate this stream relocation project. Phase 3 will be project construction.
Yakima County and the City of Yakima are continuing to evaluate plans to relocate the existing Naches River / Fruitvale Diversion and related structures upstream of this worksite to the Nelson Dam location. This action will reduce the need for the existing Cowiche Creek levee system, which was created to redirect Cowiche Creek onto an unnatural floodplain in order to minimize risk to landowners and irrigation diversion structures.