SRP Project

DESCRIPTION

Swauk Creek, a tributary to the Upper Yakima River in Kittitas County, WA, offers spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead, Chinook Salmon, and resident Rainbow and Cutthroat trout. Swauk Creek suffers impaired floodplain function and habitat degradation due to historical land use and the proximity of Highway 97. This project proposes to improve floodplain connection and in-stream habitat in a ½ mile reach, in conjunction with the replacement of two barrier culverts (culvert replacement is occurring outside of this grant proposal). Mid-Columbia Fisheries and contracted engineers would work collaboratively with the WA State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to: 1.Install large wood structures to encourage streambed aggradation to elevations that allow frequent connection with the historic floodplain and flow paths; 2.Increase channel complexity and floodplain roughness through placement of individual large wood pieces in Swauk Creek and on the floodplain; 3.Remove or lower the railroad and road berms that constrain the stream in selected places; 4.Stabilize disturbed soils by planting native herbaceous plants; 5.Plant hardwoods in a narrow riparian corridor along the stream; and 6.Change the inlet elevation of culverts in a meadow west of the project reach to trap water on the old floodplain. The project is expected to result in improved spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead, resident Rainbow, and Cutthroat trout.

Mid-Columbia Fisheries (MCF) worked collaboratively with the WA State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to restore a 0.5-mile reach of Swauk Creek, a tributary to the Upper Yakima River in Kittitas County, WA. The restoration project is located adjacent to a WSDOT project that replaced two barrier culverts on SR 97 (culvert replacement not included in this project). This salmon recovery project is designed to address the impaired floodplain function and habitat degradation caused by historical land use and the proximity of Highway 97. In order to improve floodplain connection and in-stream habitat quality, Mid-Columbia Fisheries : 1. Installed 45 large wood structures, consisting of 2 - 4 pieces of wood each, to encourage streambed aggradation to elevations that allow frequent connection with the historic floodplain and flow paths; 2. Placed 44 individual large wood pieces in Swauk Creek and on the floodplain to increase channel complexity and floodplain roughness; 3. Stabilized disturbed soils by planting native wetland herbaceous plants on 0.4 acre; and 4. Planted hardwoods in a narrow riparian corridor (~15 feet) comprising 1.71 acres along the stream where conditions were suitable for tree survival. Two project elements were not completed: 1. Remove or lower the railroad and road berms that constrain the stream in selected places; and 2. Change the inlet elevation of culverts in a meadow west of the project reach to trap water on the old floodplain. The project partners determined that the negative impacts of the berm alteration on riparian and wetland condition outweighed the potential benefits in this stream reach, and removed it from the scope of work. The meadow culverts were inadvertently left out of WSDOT’s environmental analysis, and thus could not be implemented in this project. MCF will work with the USFS and WSDOT to revisit those culverts in a future project. Project costs were lower than expected since these two elements were not completed. The project is expected to result in improved spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead, resident Rainbow, and Cutthroat trout.

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FUNDING SOURCES

FUNDING ENTRIES FROM GRANT PROJECT AGREEMENT

Type	Date	Funding Org	Funding Program	Match	Amount
Requested	08/01/2017	Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group		Match	$15,000.00
Requested	08/01/2017	Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO)	Salmon State Projects		$85,000.00
Allocated	03/25/2022	Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group		Match	$11,513.15
Allocated	03/25/2022	Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO)	Salmon State Projects		$65,241.18
Spent	03/21/2022	Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group		Match	-$11,513.15
Spent	03/21/2022	Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO)	Salmon State Projects		-$65,241.18

Grant Project Agreement Totals	Proposed	Requested	Allocated	Spent	Balance
Grant Project Agreement Totals	$100,000.00	$100,000.00	$76,754.33	$76,754.33	$0.00

OTHER FUNDING (Funding that is NOT in a grant project agreement)

Type	Date	Funding Org	Funding Program	Match	Amount

Other Funding Totals	Proposed	Requested	Allocated	Spent	Balance
Other Funding Totals

Grand Totals	Proposed	Requested	Allocated	Spent	Balance
Grand Totals

PRIMARY SPONSOR

Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group

PROJECT CONTACT

Margaret Neuman

ALT PROJECT CONTACT

Alex Conley
Rebecca Wassell

PROJECT MANAGER

Elizabeth Butler

Related Projects

Swauk and Iron Creek Restoration Design (08-1947)

		APPLICATION		FINAL
RESTORATION METRICS
	Miles of Stream and/or Shoreline Treated or Protected (C.0.b)	0.50	mi	0.50	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.50 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.50 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.50 mi
	Instream Habitat Project
	Total Miles Of Instream Habitat Treated (C.4.b)	0.50	mi	0.50	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.50 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.50 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.50 mi
	Channel reconfiguration and connectivity (C.4.c.1)
	Acres Of Channel/Off-Channel Connected Or Added (C.4.c.5)	0.30	acres	0.30	acres
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.3 acres Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.0 acres Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.3 acres
	Instream Pools Created/Added (C.4.c.6)	0.00		0.00
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0 Progress Report 12/31/2019 0 Progress Report 01/15/2021 0
	Miles of Off-Channel Stream Created or Connected (C.4.c.4)	0.15	mi	0.15	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.15 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.00 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.15 mi
	Miles of Stream Treated for channel reconfiguration and connectivity (C.4.c.3)	0.20	mi	0.20	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.00 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.20 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.20 mi
	Channel structure placement (C.4.d.1)
	Miles of Stream Treated for channel structure placement (C.4.d.3)	0.30	mi	0.50	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.30 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.50 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.50 mi
	Number of structures placed in channel (C.4.d.7)	165.00		170.00
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 38 Progress Report 12/31/2019 170 Progress Report 01/15/2021 170
	Pools Created through channel structure placement (C.4.d.5)	0.00		0.00
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0 Progress Report 12/31/2019 0 Progress Report 01/15/2021 0
	Riparian Habitat Project
	*Total Riparian Acres Treated (C.5.b.2)	0.50	acres	2.10	acres
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.0 acres Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.3 acres Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.4 acres
	*Total Riparian Miles Streambank Treated (C.5.b.1)	0.20	mi	1.00	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.00 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.25 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.25 mi
	Planting (C.5.c.1)
	Acres Planted in riparian (C.5.c.3)	0.50	acres	2.10	acres
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.0 acres Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.3 acres Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.4 acres
	Miles of streambank planted (C.5.c.4)	0.20	mi	1.00	mi
	Progress Report 02/28/2019 0.00 mi Progress Report 12/31/2019 0.25 mi Progress Report 01/15/2021 0.25 mi

Organization	Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board Lead Entity
Sponsor	Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group
Status	Completed
Schedule	Start Date: 1/19/2018 End Date: 3/25/2022

Chinook-Pop (ESU):	Chinook-Upper Columbia River Summer/Fall, Not Warranted
Chinook2-Pop (ESU):	Chinook-Middle Columbia River Spring, Not Warranted
County:	Kittitas
HUC12:	Upper Swauk Creek (170300010501)
HUC8:	Upper Yakima (17030001)
Lead Entity Area:	Yakima Basin
Legislative District:	13
Salmon Recovery Regions:	Middle Columbia River
Sections:	11
Steelhead-Pop (ESU):	Steelhead-Middle Columbia River, Yakima River Upper Mainstem, Threatened
Township:	T21NR17E
Watershed Administrative Unit:	Liberty
WRIA:	Upper Yakima
Yakima Subbasins:	Swauk Creek