Cole-Engle Fish Habitat and Passage Improvement

This project restored low flow fish passage by constructing an engineered bypass to replace the existing fish ladder at an irrigation point of diversion on Cottonwood Creek. The existing diversion was a channel spanning driven sheet piling style structure with a steel fish ladder. The downstream creek bed material had eroded resulting in passage jump heights that exceeded two feet. The length of stream treated was inaccurately calculated at proposed. The correct representation of the stream treated should have been reported as 0.01 miles.

This project will implement design plans developed from OWEB project 218-6037-15633 to control streambed erosion, improve in-stream and riparian habitat and meet with ODFW fish passage requirements at the Cole-Engle Diversion (mile 12.75) of Cottonwood Creek. Improving fish passage and habitat conditions at this site will provide ESA-listed Middle Columbia River Steelhead with year-round access to over 25 miles of critical spawning and rearing habitat in the middle and upper reaches of Cottonwood/Fox Creek, a major spawning tributary of the North Fork John Day River. Ensuring fish have adequate access to habitat upstream of the Cole-Engle Diversion has added benefit given the extensive restoration work conducted in the upper reaches by The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation, OWEB and Grant Soil & Water Conservation District. Projects in this portion of the watershed have primarily focused on restoring natural floodplain process, improving habitat complexity, in-stream flows, groundwater inputs, water temperature regimes, erosion control and creating potential juvenile rearing habitat. By improving fish passage and habitat in the lower reaches of Cottonwood Creek, this project will ultimately allow steelhead to benefit from all restoration work conducted throughout the extent of the Fox/Cottonwood Creek watershed.