by ALANA LINDEROTH
Sequim Gazette
The construction of a long anticipated fish ladder on Canyon Creek will expose about two miles of designated “Essential Fish Habitat” ideal for four species of Pacific salmon, including Puget Sound chinook salmon, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The suitable fish habitat found within the Dungeness River’s second largest tributary has been unreachable by both resident and anadromous fish since the construction of Canyon Creek dam in 1903. More than 100 years later, however, the dam soon is expected to meet modern fish passage standards.
Moving the proposed project along, on Dec. 23 Clallam County commissioners approved an agreement with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials to allow for the construction of the fish ladder. County approval was required because the project is located beneath the county-owned bridge on Fish Hatchery Road at about Dungeness River mile 10.8.
“We are very excited to move forward on this project,” Rob Allan, WDFW operations and hatchery reform manager for the Olympic Peninsula, said.
Although the promising habitat was identified in 1993, it wasn’t until 2012 that WDFW officials were able to allocate funds from the Jobs Now bill for the approximately $2 million project to update the existing intake.
Though the project has been in motion since the mid-1990s, renovating the intake on Canyon Creek became more of a priority for WDFW officials in 2002 after a “hatchery scientific review group” recommended the intake be removed, Allan said.
Despite blocking fish from potential habitat throughout last century, the dam has and will continue to be active in order to divert supplemental water to WDFW’s Dungeness River Fish Hatchery, which has been operational since 1902 and rebuilt at its current location in 1945, Scott Williams, the Fish Hatchery Specialist 4 at Dungeness River Fish Hatchery, said. The hatchery rears a number of species including Dungeness coho, Dungeness spring chinook, winter steelhead and every other year pink salmon.
To bring the diversion dam to fish passage standards, in addition to the construction of the fish ladder, state officials also will replace the intake and screening, repair the downstream apron, provide a plunge pool and entrance pools, with the addition of downstream weirs and replace about 120 feet of the existing water supply pipeline.
From the various upgrades to the site on Canyon Creek, Allan expects the “biggest impact to the hatchery and the resource is it will open up access to additional spawning and habitat for fish that haven’t been available for decades.”
Though the project area is either near or designated critical habitat for Puget Sound bull trout, chinook, Hood Canal summer chum, marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls — all listed under the Endangered Species Act, the work shouldn’t negatively impact the surrounding species or their habitat beyond possible short-term effects, such as noise pollution and increased particles suspended in the water (turbidity), according to the project’s biological assessment.
State officials anticipate the 10-week project to occur during the creek’s low-flow season between July and September.
