Chelan County to receive $740,000 in Fish Passage Restoration grants

OLYMPIA — The Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board has awarded Chelan County a total of $740,000 in grants to support the removal of fish-blocking culverts in two salmon-bearing tributaries, according to a July 15 announcement from the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office.

The funds are part of a statewide $30 million grant package aimed at restoring fish migration routes by correcting road-related barriers such as undersized or improperly installed culverts. These structures can prevent salmon and steelhead from accessing spawning and rearing habitat.

The Chelan County Natural Resources Department will use $346,000 to design and replace five culverts in Eagle Creek, a tributary to Chumstick Creek in the Wenatchee River watershed. The project is part of a broader effort to eliminate 15 fish passage barriers along the lower five miles of Eagle Creek. According to grant documents, the project will open nearly two miles of quality habitat for Chinook salmon, which is listed as endangered, and steelhead trout, listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

An additional $394,000 will fund the replacement of a culvert in Sand Creek, an important tributary to Mission Creek near Cashmere. The new structure will restore access to more than four miles of potential habitat for Chinook and steelhead. The Mission Creek watershed is home to one of the Wenatchee River basin’s strongest wild steelhead populations.

“For the past 10 years, these grants have been chipping away at this problem,” said Kaylee Kautz, manager of the Fish Barrier Removal Board. “Since then, we have removed 63 barriers and opened nearly 179 miles of habitat to salmon. That’s good news for our salmon and steelhead.”

The grant program, created by the Legislature in 2014, is administered by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Recreation and Conservation Office. Projects are selected based on their potential to restore critical fish migration corridors and improve salmon survival rates.

“These grants are critical to ensuring that fish can pass from stream to ocean and back again,” said Megan Duffy, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office. “One impassible culvert might not seem like a bad thing, but when fish must navigate dozens in a single river, their chance of survival drops.”

Landowners with potential barriers on their property are encouraged to contact a local habitat biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife for assistance.

“Landowners are crucial partners in getting barriers fixed,” Duffy added. “We can supply the funding and the expertise, but willing landowners are the key to progress.”