Cougar Creek Fish Passage Restoration

he Asotin County Conservation District sponsored the restoration of the Cougar Creek culvert, which was a partial fish passage barrier where Cougar Creek flows under the Grande Ronde River Road. The barrier posed an imminent threat to anadromous fish (Steelhead) and limits their access to approximately 2.25 miles of rearing and spawning habitat upstream of the culvert. The project lies within the Lower Grande Ronde Subbasin and is part of the Grande Ronde MSA. As stated in the Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan, Steelhead are especially effective at accessing and utilizing stream reaches with suitable habitat, however, their distribution is limited by environmental issues such as migration barriers. Cougar Creek flows directly into the Grande Ronde River approximately 140 feet below the barrier. The culvert was identified in 2010 by the Walla Walla Community College Road Crossing Barrier Assessment as a partial barrier. ACCD utilized funds received a 2020 SRFB grant and BPA to complete the design for the project. Funding for he Cougar Creek Fish Passage Restoration Project came from SRFB, FBRB and BPA to complete the removal of the culvert and install a three-sided concrete box culvert to eliminate the barrier.

The goal is to complete the removal of the fish passage barrier that currently limits the movement of Snake River steelhead in Cougar Creek access to spawning and rearing habitat upstream. The undersized culvert will be replaced with an adequately sized structure improving access to more than 2.25 miles of habitat. By improving passage at this location, this project once implemented will allow all life stages of steelhead to fully utilize the stream reach. This includes suitable habitat upstream of the barrier as documented in the problem statement. This will provide improved utilization of shaded, cool reaches of the stream with instream habitat suitable for steelhead juveniles to survive year round.