Collaborative projects underway in Yakima
Mid-Columbia Fisheries is working with partners to enhance salmon habitat at two locations in Yakima County this fall. The first location is along Cowiche Creek. Nearly 400 feet of old railroad bed wereremoved and the streambank sloped back to allow the creek to access its floodplain. Additional rip rap materials were removed along the left bank downstream of the railroad grade. A Washington Conservation Corps crew planted trees and shrubs in the restored riparian area. Project partners include the City of Yakima, the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy, the North Yakima Conservation District, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The project is funded through the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, Community Salmon Fund, Bonneville Power Administration (through the Yakima Tributary and Habitat Program), US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners Program, and the Washington State Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group program.
The second project is located along a side channel of the Naches River, between Naches and Yakima. The landowner recognized an opportunity to create salmon rearing habitat at the tailend of an irrigation return flow ditch. Approximately 900 feet of new rearing and spawning habitat were constructed, and nearly 50 pieces of large wood installed throughout the channel and floodplain. Upstream passage from the project area to the return flow ditch was blocked in order to prevent fish from moving from the new habitat into the irrigation system. Project partners include the landowner, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Smayda Associates, and Yakima County. Funding comes from the Landowner Incentive Program, the US Fish Wildlife Service Partners program, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
