Ennis Creek is an upper Samish River Basin tributary in the Wickersham area of Whatcom County. The creek serves as one of the main spawning grounds in the Samish Basin for coho steelhead and cutthroat. Ennis Creek runs in a roadside ditch along Innis Creek Road for 1,000 feet before flowing into the Samish River through a submerged and undersized culvert. The channel no longer effectively transports sediment and Innis Creek Road frequently floods. The ditched section is maintained and occasionally dredged by Whatcom County under emergency conditions. The dredging and the subsequent re-grade affect over 2,500 feet of prime spawning habitat. There is no pool riffle or habitat complexity. Salmon have been observed spawning and stranded on the gravel portions of Innis Creek Road. The proposed restoration project involves re-establishing the historic channel across Innis Creek Road thus directing flow into the Samish River upstream of its present crossing. Downstream of the road, a stream channel approximately 600-feet-long would be re-carved from the old channel. Spawning habitat will be enhanced through natural gravel deposition. Large woody debris will be installed to help process gravel and maintain pool riffle complex. A new bridge crossing on Innis Creek Road will be installed with help from Whatcom County. The project is anticipated to result in a gain of at least 3,716 sq m of spawning habitat.
