Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
A drone view of the Church Creek restoration as part of the Upper South Fork Skokomish River Habitat Restoration project.
The Mason Conservation District updated the public on nine upcoming Skokomish Habitat projects, with two projects planning to begin construction in the summer.
The Skokomish Valley Road "Dips" project is in the permitting phase and is planned to be constructed in the summer. The project will build a new bridge over Skokomish Valley Road, high enough to be above 100-year flood levels. The road elevation will be set so water will not go over it below a 1.4-year flood event. The project includes going into the wetlands and doing some grading and channelizing to take on a greater capacity in the area.
The Skokomish River Mile 5 phase 1 project is in the permitting phase and is also set to begin construction in the summer. Mason Conservation District Senior Conservation Manager Keith Underwood said it will go forward in the summer if funding is available.
"We had funding to do the construction this year but permitting slowed the process down, so we didn't get there," Underwood told the Journal on Oct. 17.
The River Mile 5 project creates a channel for flooding near U.S. Highway 101 and would create a channel for flood water to fill in. Underwood said the highway would not be affected by the project.
The Skokomish River Mile 6.5 project received more funding from the salmon recovery funding board, according to Underwood. There is still a small amount of money needed to meet the match, and once that is met, the project will be ready to go. Underwood said the project is going through the final design process and permitting is expected to be started in the spring, with construction expected in 2024.
Underwood explained the River Mile 6.5 project, which is a mile upstream from the U.S. 101 bridge.
"Right now, the adjacent farms to the south are getting flooded," Underwood explained. "So this will push flood waters toward, I believe it's called Sunnyside Road, onto the department of Fish and Wildlife property, which is a forested wetland. So it's trying to move the water away from the farmlands and onto that piece or property and connecting the channels so that it has a number of side channels going through the WDFW property and improve fish habitat."
Other projects include the Confluence project, which is expected to enter the permitting phase in the winter. The Army Corp of Engineers project's next step is land agreements, which are expected to take place in the winter. The Skokomish community supported flood improvement objectives will be updated in the winter and a public discussion scheduled for the spring.
The Vance Creek project is in the process of request for qualification and public outreach. The South Fork Fish Passage project is in the contracting stage and is scheduled to procure an engineering firm in the winter. The South Fork Phase 6 project is also in the contracting phase and a scope site feasibility study is scheduled for the winter.
Underwood provided an update on the Upper South Fork Skokomish River project. He showed pictures to the public of what the project looks like and how the conservation district will start mapping the area with drones.
"The Skokomish Tribe and Mason Conservation District both have drones and so we're working together on this newer mapping technology that is coming out of the drone world and how we can see change over time," Underwood said. "You can see individual logs so we can track where each log goes to. Is the channel getting deeper or shallower? Those types of things that folks have been asking about, give us some proof that these things are changing. So we think this is the best technology to see those changes."
Underwood said the project is long term and the district is trying to find money to help document how the area changes over time. He said the returns on the project will depend on the hydrology.
"A lot of the work that's being done in the forest is process based, so they're trying to build a system that realigns the river system with naturally-based processes," Underwood said. "The natural base processes a lot of wood recruitment on an annual basis so we're stuffing the logs into the ground to speed that wood recruitment back up basically because of forestry and other things slowed that down. Once that process starts going, then you get more point bars in the rivers and sediment being held in the upper river is one of our goals so that it has less sediment accumulation downriver but also is trying to build vegetated areas in a lot of wood that creates habitat for fish."
Underwood said about 15 people attended the final conservation district meeting of the year on Oct. 11. He said the attendees were interested in talking about how the wood project works, seeing examples of how the wood project worked and enjoyed the engagement and discussion.
Underwood said the next meeting will be in January or February, with the conservation district needing time to work on projects before a public update.
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