Water Quality Improvement & Habitat Restoration Projects

ABSTRACT: Estuarine habitat is increasingly recognized as critical and limiting to salmonid populations (Beamer, 2000). The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has initiated a restoration project, the Fornsby Creek SRT Project, to accomplish restoration of former estuarine habitat adjacent to the Swinomish Channel on the Swinomish Indian Reservation. The project will re-open more than five miles of estuarine-riparian channel to fish and improve more than 70 acres of associated aquatic habitat by replacing existing impassible tidegates with self-regulating tidegates (SRTs), improving the channel quality behind the new tidegates, and installing vegetated buffers adjacent to the channels. An extensive monitoring program, documenting pre-, syn-, and post-project ecologic and hydrologic conditions, is included to facilitate evaluation of positive and negative impacts of the project to fish use and adjacent land uses.

OBJECTIVES: IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT- WHY DO IT?

1. Restoration: Increase habitat available for (chinook) salmon rearing,
   
2. Monitoring: Evaluate if self-regulating tidegates (SRT) are viable in the Skagit
   
3. Restoration on Tribal land; do our part for salmon recovery

INTRODUCTION

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

TIMELINE

UPDATES

September 2004 Update

October 2004 Update, Part 1

October 2004 Update, Part 2

September 2005 Update, Part 1

September 2005 Update, Part 2

September 2005 Update, Part 3

PLANS

Monitoring Plan, Part 1 of 3

Monitoring Plan, Part 2 of 3

Monitoring Plan, Part 3 of 3

Restoration Plan, Part 1 of 3

Restoration Plan, Part 2 of 3

Restoration Plan, Part 3 of 3