Coppei Creek Project Area 07 Design

The Walla Walla County Conservation District completed a preliminary engineered design for a fish habitat restoration project on a portion of Coppei Creek, a tributary of the Touchet River located in Walla Walla County, Washington. The project area is within a major spawning area for endangered species act listed mid-Columbia River steelhead per the Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan (2011). The intent of the design is to restore natural river processes including increased channel roughness elements, promote sediment sorting and storage, and large wood features. When constructed, the project will provide adult holding and juvenile rearing habitat.

The goal of this project was to provide a preliminary engineered design that when implemented will improve the quantity and quality of accessible spawning, rearing, foraging and in-stream habitat for ESU listed Mid-Columbia steelhead. The design, once implemented, should increase juvenile survival as a result of reduced sedimentation and temperatures and improved instream habitat.