This side-channel rearing habitat on the lower Chewuch River will be part of a restoration assessment .
Grants support work on Twisp, Chewuch rivers
Two Methow Valley projects are among the recipients of nearly $76 million in grants to statewide organizations from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, intended to help ensure the survival of salmon in Washington.
The grants that went to 138 projects in 30 of the state’s 39 counties. The grants will pay for work to restore salmon habitat, including repairing degraded habitat in rivers, removing barriers blocking salmon migration and conserving pristine habitat.
The Methow Valley projects are:
- To the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, a grant of $402,376 for a project to reconnect the Twisp River Floodplain.
According to a press release from the state Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), the Yakima Nation will use the grant to reconnect a 1,000-foot-long relic side channel of the Twisp River with an oxbow channel, to create a 2,400-foot perennial side channel in what is called the Scaffold Camp project. It is located entirely on Yakama Nation-owned lands.
The project also includes adding large woody materials, such as logs, root wads and logjams to the river. Adding such materials creates places for fish to rest, feed and hide from predators. It also slows the river, which reduces erosion and allows small rocks to settle to the riverbed, creating areas for salmon to spawn.
The river is used by upper Columbia River spring Chinook salmon, which is a species listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and by steelhead trout, which is a species listed as threatened with extinction under the Act, according to the RCO information.
The Yakama Nation will contribute $207,284 in local grant funds from the Wells HCP Plan Species Account Fund, for a total project cost of $609,660.
- To the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation, a grant of $149,878 for a project to reassess the lower Chewuch River. The foundation will use the funds to assess the lower 20 miles of the Chewuch, a major spawning area for upper Columbia River spring Chinook salmon and steelhead which also provides migration and rearing habitat for bull trout.
The project will update data from 2010 to incorporate significant changes in the river and riverbank conditions following recent wildfires, floods and restoration projects, according to the RCO release. The data will be used to update the restoration strategy and develop a list of potential restoration and protection projects.
The river is used by upper Columbia River spring Chinook salmon, and by steelhead and bull trout, both of which are species listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation will contribute $30,000 from a federal grant for a total project cost of $179,878.
