Chelan County is proposing to replace an existing culvert on North Road that currently precludes passage for spring Chinook and bull trout, and partially blocks steelhead, preventing healthy populations of ESA-listed threatened and endangered salmonids and other migratory fish species to 78 square miles of quality spawning and rearing habitat in the Chumstick Creek watershed. The project will complement US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Chelan County Conservation District culvert removal projects upstream of the North Road crossing, and the Yakima Indian Nations proposal to reintroduce Coho to Chumstick Creek. The new culvert will be a large, structural plate pipe countersunk with stream bed material and more than 100 feet shorter than the existing crossing, which is a fish passage barrier during low flows due to steep gradient and inadequate water depth and at high flows due to high velocities and excessive pipe length. The USFWS, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) biologists and fish passage specialists have reviewed the project and all reviewers have indicated a high feasibility of project success. The USFWS and WDFW will monitor the project during and after construction. The money requested would supplement partial funding that has been committed through Chelan County and through grants awarded by Washington State Local Programs, BPA, and Washington State Governors Salmon Recovery Office.
