QUILCENE — A major floodplain and salmon habitat restoration project on the Big Quilcene River has been approved to move forward.
The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners approved a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the county, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG) on Monday.
“In terms of leadership, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group have led the effort on this project for a number of years,” said Phil Hunsucker, the county’s chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney. “They were able to obtain over $39 million in funding for this project. That’s no small feat.”
The MOA lists flood control and salmon restoration among key goals of the project.
Rodgers Street, Fremont Avenue and Linger Longer Road are regularly inundated by floodwaters, making them impassable to vehicle traffic, according to the MOA.
Eleven major floods have occurred in the area since 1982, Hunsucker said.
“There was a really big flood in November of 1990,” he said. “A couple people died and, it caused, you know, several million dollars in damage.”
The projects will seek to restore the river to its historical meandering course, with more pools and salmon-spawning gravel, Hunsucker said.
Removing the north levee will reconnect the river to its original floodplain and reduce pressure on the river’s south levee, according to an explanation in the MOA. The work will slow the river’s flow.
“The reason that’s important is that a fast-flowing stream will wash out the salmon eggs,” Hunsucker said. “The modeling that was done on this project suggested the salmon productivity in the lower mile of the river will have a dramatic increase.”
Earlier this year, the tribe partnered with the county to start construction on a related 1,000-foot bridge construction process. The bridge is being built to span the Big Quilcene River’s floodplain on Linger Longer Road.
A temporary bridge was placed on Rodgers Street, granting access to the area.
The more than $39 million is made up of several grants: A $24.9 million RAISE grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, an almost $12.3 million grant from the Tribal Bridge Program, two grants totaling more than $1.2 million from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and a $572,500 grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The RAISE grant and the tribal bridge grant were directed to the tribe, while the remaining grants were awarded to HCSEG for designing and permitting.
Upon receiving the needed county signatures, language in the MOA obligates the county to issue a general permit needed to begin work in the floodplain within three days.
Th tribe will take on the responsibility for the bridge replacement and floodplain construction, Hunsucker said.
Once built, the county will be responsible for maintaining the bridge as a part of Linger Longer Road.
HCSEG will be responsible for maintaining habitat in the project area as well as continuing to try to purchase floodplain land and 100-year flood land in the project area.
Also in the MOA, the county will transfer more than 53 acres of floodplain land to the tribe to facilitate the ease of completion of the restoration work.
“Current expectation is that all of these properties will be transferred and will be a part of the project,” Hunsucker said. “We’re still in the due diligence phase for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe on these projects, should be about another 30 days before that’s complete.”
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
