The Port partners launch construction phase of Kalama River Fish Enhancement Project to restore habitat and protection for salmon and steelhead
KALAMA, WASH. (PRWEB) AUGUST 17, 2018
The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group next week launches the construction phase of the Kalama River Fish Enhancement Project at the Port of Kalama. The ambitious restoration project will enhance habitat for juvenile and adult fish, increase holding water for salmon and steelhead and create cover for fish to hide from predators.
The Port provided matching funds toward the construction of the wood structures along the shoreline to provide shelter and safe feeding areas for young salmon. This next phase of the project is expected to run from August 20, 2018 through summer 2019 and will impact some areas and Port walking paths in the Kalama River Industrial Park. Visitors should look for area signage. For more information on the construction projects visit https://www.rco.wa.gov/; search project number 16-1532.
The comprehensive strategy is to maximize the function of the lower Kalama River as a thermal refuge habitat to benefit multiple in-basin and out-of-basin stocks including Chinook, coho, steelhead, sockeye, and chum. A secondary goal is to increase productivity of in-basin stocks and to decrease predation of all salmonids via increased aquatic habitat complexity and diversity.
Overall recovery and enhancement efforts will include:
- Installing 30 multi-log structures comprised of about 100 instream complexity logs and 25 floodplain roughness logs along 7,000’ of mainstem shoreline and 970’ of side channel shoreline;
- Enhancing 2,000,000 cubic feet of existing juvenile rearing and adult holding cover habitat;
- Increasing riffle pool frequency from 1 in 6,500’ to 1 pool every 170’;
- Reducing width to depth ratio from 150:3 to 125:5;
- Adding 700,000 cubic feet of juvenile rearing and adult holding cover by increasing depth of existing deep-water habitat and creating a minimum of 20 new pools.
- Increasing sediment sorting to create a minimum of 2,000’ sq. ft. of spawning habitat.
The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group and the Port of Kalama thank the following partners for their contributions to the Kalama River Fish Enhancement Project:
- WA State Dept. of Natural Resources
- WA State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
- WA State Recreation and Conservation Office\
- Salmon Recovery Funding Board
- Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board
- Steelscape Inc.
- Larch Correctional Facility
In addition, the following firms are involved in the efforts:
Woody materials: HFI Consultants
Engineering: Inter-Fluve Inc.
Contractor: Kysar-Koistinen
For more information on the project, visit https://www.rco.wa.gov/. Search project number 16-1532. You can also call Brice Crayne, LCFEG project manager at 360-904-7922.
“The Port of Kalama is dedicated to preserving Kalama’s natural environment through community service projects and facility enhancements that protect its natural resources,” says Liz Newman, marketing manager, Port of Kalama. “This fish enhancement project will further our local efforts to restore and enhance habitat for salmon and steelhead navigating the Kalama River.”
