PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has approved a contract with an environmental consultant to design fish passage improvements at the McDonald Creek outtake of the Agnew Irrigation District.
Commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to approve a personal services agreement with Anchor QEA, a national firm with offices in Seattle.
The $46,098 design contract is funded by the state Department of Ecology’s Floodplains by Design program. No county match is required.
The irrigation outtake is about 400 feet upstream of the U.S. Highway 101 bridge over McDonald Creek between Port Angeles and Sequim.
The diversion dam presents a partial barrier to fish passage 3.2 miles from the mouth of the stream, officials said.
Operation, maintenance
County Planning Manager Steve Gray said the fish passage project also will improve the operation and maintenance of the Agnew Irrigation District structure.
“It’s kind of geared to be a win-win project,” Gray told commissioners last week.
Clallam County Salmon Restoration Coordinator Cheryl Baumann said the primary parties are the county, the Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe and the Agnew Irrigation District.
“The Lead Entity has also played a role because we put together the initial Floodplains by Design grant request, so we were involved kind of in a supportive role,” said Baumann, who coordinates the North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity for Salmon.
“This is a project that is on our work plan and that has previously come through our process for design funding.”
An earlier attempt to complete the McDonald Creek project “ran into some hurdles” and stalled, Baumann told commissioners April 17.
“Because it was in the Floodplains by Design ask, and it was a legislative proviso, the parties were brought back together with a facilitator and they’ve been working through trying to see if they can advance this and get this project complete,” Baumann said.
According to the scope of work, Anchor QEA will assist a McDonald Creek “stakeholder group” in two phases.
In the first phase, the consultant will identify up to three conceptual alternatives to present to the stakeholders.
“And then the stakeholder group will work together to identify a preferred alternative that would result in a detailed design,” Gray said.
The goal is to complete the design by September, according to the approved agreement.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
