Steele, Goehner tour Peshastin Creek fish habitat restoration

PESHASTIN — Rep. Mike Steele and Sen. Keith Goehner paid a visit to the recently completed restoration project along Peshastin Creek on Oct. 23, which aims to enhance fish habitat, reconnect existing wetlands, and restore floodplain connectivity.

“A big part of this project was getting water out onto the floodplain, which is a great spot for juvenile fish to be, because the water is a little bit slower,” said Cascade Fisheries Senior Habitat Project Manager Aaron Rosenblum.

According to Cascade Fisheries, Peshastin Creek is one of the most productive streams for spawning steelhead in the Wenatchee Basin. However, development has altered the creek’s natural form over the years, minimizing opportunities for juveniles to find the slower current and complex habitat needed to survive.

The project added channels, installed log jams, and deepened pools, increasing connectivity to existing wetlands and floodplain habitat. The restoration was driven in partnership between private landowners, Cascade Fisheries and Chelan-Douglas Land Trust.

As a ranking minority member of the House Capital Budget Committee, which considers allocations to salmon recovery, Rep. Steele said the project was a practical application of funding for salmon rehabilitation and overall stewardship.

“These are the kinds of projects that I can take back to the legislature and my colleagues, and have real-time examples of meaningful work,” said Rep. Steele.

Sen. Goehner commended the habitat enhancement, but cautioned that recovery efforts along the Upper Columbia were only effective if fish could make it past the downstream barriers.

He encouraged project advocacy at the state level to help legislators understand the interdependence of salmon recovery efforts along the lower, middle and upper reaches of the Columbia River. Taking a holistic approach, Goehner said, was necessary to achieving the expected returns on investment.

The meeting coincides with reports of historically low steelhead returns. According to the University of Washington's Columbia River DART counts, approximately 63,150 steelhead passed through the lowermost dam of the Columbia River, Bonneville, as of Oct. 22. The count sits well-below four- and ten-year averages, which are approximately 144,000 and 124,000, respectively.

Cascade Fisheries Jason Lundgren recognized the myriad of challenges stacked against salmon downstream, emphasizing the importance of improving conditions for the fish that do make it to the Upper Columbia River and its tributaries.

Lundgren also highlighted the local economic impacts of both the Peshastin Creek project and the Goodwin Side Channel project, which is located along the Wenatchee River near Cashmere.

Together, the projects brought $3.3 million to local contractors, $70,000 to local businesses, and generated $260,000 in local sales tax, according to the organization. The projects were supported via mitigation funding from the local PUDs and Bonneville Power Administration, as well as the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media