PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has added $134,662 in state Puget Sound Restoration funds to a North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon project that will study culverts for fish passage.
County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a contract amendment with the state Recreation and Conservation Office to add the funds to a three-year, $160,000 grant for a new total of $294,662.
The county is the fiscal agent for the Lead Entity, a consortium of local governments, tribes, citizens and nonprofit groups working to advance salmon restoration and recovery from Blyn to Cape Flattery.
North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity for Salmon coordinator Cheryl Baumann said the money will be used to identify the culverts that prevent salmon from migrating upstream.
The Recreation and Conservation Office grant runs from 2011 to 2013.
The funds will allow the Lead Entity to work on the first phase of the culvert inventory and other projects.
“We had some leftover funding from the last time, which was deliberate because we knew that there was going to be some budget cuts passed,” Baumann told commissioners Monday.
“We wanted to be conservative with our funding so that we would have funding to continue needed work. So this is adding some additional funding to our ongoing contract.”
Culvert inventory
“One of the projects that I’m really excited about that we’re tackling with this money is working on a county culvert inventory,” Baumann added.
The county road department has conducted its own inventory of culverts that drain water under county roads.
Baumann said the Lead Entity will work with the road department to share data.
“We don’t want to be duplicating efforts that have already gone on,” Baumann said in a follow-up interview.
The Clallam County road department recently teamed up with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe to replace a half-dozen aging culverts with larger aluminum drains in the Salt Creek basin.
“The road department is always going to be involved if it has to do with a county road,” County Engineer Ross Tyler said.
Clallam’s 1,898 culverts
The 500-mile Clallam County road system has 1,898 culverts, Tyler said.
Tyler said the road department is “certainly ready and willing” to work with the Lead Entity on its detailed culvert analysis.
“We won’t get that project totally completed within the time period of this contract,” Baumann said.
“It was a project on our work plan that had a $450,000 price tag. We don’t have those kind of dollar figures, but we are using some of the Puget Sound Restoration money that we have towards [part-time restoration planner] Eric’s [Carlsen] time on that, and then he’s working with some of our partners, the tribes and nonprofit partners to see where — and also working closely with county roads — to see what other partners might be able to help us on this effort.”
Commissioner Mike Doherty said the inventory may help the county apply for funding to replace old culverts in flood-prone areas such as Hoko Road.
Commissioner Mike Chapman said the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office may be able to use the Lead Entity’s analysis to apply for federal predisaster mitigation funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation program.
“This would certainly tend to take the idiosyncrasy out of the question of: ‘Where do we start first?’” Commissioner Jim McEntire added.
Also Tuesday, commissioners approved the purchase of 2,740 square feet of easement for culvert work on Fuhrman Road south of Forks.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
