Coal Creek and Cottonwood Creek Fish Passage

This project will replace the fish passage barrier culverts at Fern St./Cottonwood Creek and Sushana Dr./Coal Creek in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB) with stream-simulation culverts to restore unimpeded fish access to 23.01 km of instream habitat and 266.77 ha of lake habitat for coho, Chinook, and sockeye salmon.

This project will reconnect 23.01 kilometers of instream habitat and 266.77 hectares of lake habitat, restoring free and clear movement of juvenile salmonids and other anadromous and resident fish at two road crossings. Sizing the culverts to pass debris and sediment as well as water at the 100-year flood will greatly reduce the likelihood of catastrophic road failures introducing large volumes of sediment into streams. Stream simulation crossings are also more stable and less prone to bank scour, channel incision, or sediment accretion at a rate greater than the rest of the channel.