Castile Falls Fishway Bedload Deflector

Castile Falls Fishway Bedload Deflector (PCSRF #2008-4-01)
Completion Report
March 2012
Prepared for:
Laura Gephardt –
Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission
PCSRF – Coordinator.
Prepared by:
Bill Sharp
Klickitat Basin Coordinator – YKFP
Project Goal: This project augmented prior passage work at Castile Falls funded by NOAA Fisheries which has opened over 50 miles of high quality spawning and rearing habitat in the upper Klickitat Subbasin. This project ensures increased passage efficiency through the Castile Falls 4/5 fishway. Effective and efficient passage ensures increased spawning success as migrating adults reserve valuable energy for redd construction and defense of redds from superimposition.
Project Location: Klickitat River (at Castile Falls 4/5 Fishway)
0460 15’ 10.16” N and 1210 14’ 20.72” W (Fig.1)
Yakima County, (T9N, R13E, Sec. 19 NENE) on Yakama Nation land
Figure 1. Map of Project Location.

Project Summary: The project modified an existing concrete sill immediately upstream of Castile Falls No.#5 and adjacent to the Castile Falls 4/5 Fishway adult fish exit (west side of Klickitat River), by placing a steel extension on top of the sill and installing a second notch in the sill (Figure 2). These modifications now mobilize bedload in the river’s thalweg and ensure that bedload does not accumulate in front of the fish exit (Photo 1). This modification now alleviates existing maintenance needs to manually remove bedload accumulation shown in Photo 1. This modification now ensures effective adult passage upstream resulting in higher rates of spawning success for adult spring Chinook (a depressed population) and steelhead (ESA-listed as threatened) migrating through this reach of the Klickitat River.
YN Fisheries senior staff functioned as project owner representative during the all construction phases and provided administrative support and operational guidance. During the low-flow construction project crews lowered equipment and material by use of a 70-ton capacity crane (Photo 2.) to work within the de-watered portion of stream channel behind installed coffer dam. Only one half of the channel was de-watered at a time. Work commenced in late October to ensure that no adult spring Chinook would be encountered. Work was sequenced to occur on one half and then the other half at the existing sill location, in order to maintain fish passage. Yakama Nation (YN) Fisheries crews were on site to ensure no fish were stranded and all fish were removed from behind the cofferdam. Clean sands and gravels used in coffer dam sand bags and were wasted in the river and all plastic sand bag material removed from project area. High flows of fall/winter mobilized and transport these clean sands and gravels downstream.
The project was completed with two weeks and received engineering final approval. YN Maintenance crews continue to report deflector is intact and fully operational.

This project will ensure increased passage efficiency through the Castile Falls 4/5 fishway. Effective and efficient passage ensures increased spawning success as migrating adults reserve valuable energy for redd construction and defense of redds from superimposition.