Mill Creek fish passage project begins
By Terry Murry on Monday, June 14th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – Construction to improve fish passage in the Mill Creek channel which runs alongside Wildwood Park on South Division Street has begun.
The project is sponsored by the Tri-State Steelheaders, whose mission is to restore sustainable populations of native salmonids by enhancing habit, providing public education, and promoting recreational angling.
Construction work is scheduled to take place Monday through Friday and be completed in September. Visitors of Wildwood Park can expect reduced parking for the next week or two and should be aware of construction equipment.
The goal of the project is to improve passage for adult and juvenile summer steelhead, bull trout, and spring chinook.
At high flow, water is too fast and there are no resting areas for the fish. At low flow, water is too shallow. The project will improve the channel by adding a roughened concrete surface and resting pools that will address the high flow problems. Reconfigured baffles eliminate low flow problems.
This project phase runs approximately 2,200 feet in length upstream from Otis Street to South Division Street.
“Work will continue up to South Roosevelt Street next summer”, Tri-State Steelheaders Executive Director Brian Burns said.
The $3.2 million project is funded by the Washington State Legislature created Salmon Recovery Funding Board, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Bonneville Power Administration.
MYCB photo by Dan Thesman
