~McElroy Slough Project~
McElroy Slough Project
Project Partners: Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Skagit County, US Fish and Wildlife Service, WA Department of Fish and Wildlife, WA Dept of Ecology, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Wetlands Reserve Program, Skagit River System Cooperative, and the Blanchard Community.
Project Summary: The McElroy Slough project will restore tidal flushing, fish passage and estuary rearing area for chinook, coho, chum and cutthroat within the McElroy Slough watershed. McElroy Slough is an independent drainage which enters Samish Bay in northern Skagit County. Three salmon bearing creeks drain into McElroy Slough: Whitehall, Colony and Harrison Creeks. Previous salmon enhancement projects have occurred on both Colony and Harrison Creeks. Restoring the estuary functions to the McElroy watershed will greatly enhance the fish and wildlife uses as well as reduce flood hazards to the Blanchard Community.
The preliminary design for this project was completed using a multi-agency collaborative approach. Representatives from local, state and federal agencies formed a technical advisory committee to oversee the development and design of the project with the local community members. This committee acquired funds in 1998 for a consultant to complete a preliminary design report in 1999. The work currently proposed is the first phase of what project partners hope to be a two phase project. The project currently funded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board will upgrade two crossing structures to better accommodate fish passage and high water flows, while also reintroducing salt water to the slough area by replacing traditional tide gates with a self-regulating tide gate. Reintroducing saltwater into the system is expected to kill non-native vegetation such as reed canary grass and cattails that currently exists in the channel, recreating 9 acres of natural estuary habitat. The possible second phase of the project could involve breaching dikes to maximize the area of improved salmonid habitat. The details of this second project have not been finalized nor has funding been secured. However several design alternatives have been developed and a preferred option identified in the preliminary design report. The committee will continue to work with the community members and landowners to finalize plans for a second project as the current project proceeds. The committee expects to earn the trust of the community with the first project and have them more easily buy into the possible second project. During implementation of the current project, funds will be sought to purchase lands that will be impacted by the second project. Funds for breaching and moving dikes will be sought after completion of the current project and purchase of significant parcels of land. Some lands have already been purchased through the USDA Wetlands Reserve Program. Additional funds for land purchasing are being sought through WDFW and WRP.
The currently funded project will open 1 mile in length or approximately 9 acres of estuary area for anadromous fish use within the slough. It will also improve access to 5 miles of Colony Creek used by anadromous fish, a half mile of Whitehall Creek and 3 miles of Harrison Creek. The second project has the potential to recreate at least 24 acres of estuary habitat. In addition to providing significant benefits to fisheries and many other wildlife species, the project will also provide flood reduction benefits to the Blanchard community. At the McElroy Slough outlet the current project will remove all existing culverts (two-72” pipes and one-48” pipe) and install two-10’ x 6’ box culverts with two standard tide flap gates per barrel and an additional 5’ x 6’ culvert with a self regulating tide gate for fish passage. These new pipes with double the hydraulic capacity of the outlet and allow saltwater to flow in and out of the slough on a daily basis. At the Flinn Road crossing (1/3 mile upstream from the outlet) the project will remove two existing 72” culverts which are undersized for the slough and install one large box culvert. Again this replacement with double the hydraulic capacity of the crossing structure.
 SFEG will replace tide gates on McElroy Slough with gates that are fish friendly. Currently baseline monitoring is taking place to determine fish use. |
