The UPA Wenatchee Passage projects are proposed by the Chelan County Natural Resource Department (CCNRD) and are part of a regional commitment by Chelan County to initiate long-term habitat protection and restoration efforts within the Wenatchee River subbasin for ESA-listed species. The UPA Wenatchee Passage projects will be located in the Wenatchee subbasin and will benefit Upper Columbia steelhead, spring Chinook and bull trout.

A list of barrier culverts in the Wenatchee subbasin is included as an attachment. Some, but not all, of these culverts will be replaced with the Wenatchee Passage proposal. The Upper Columbia Regional Technical Team is in the process of prioritizing the culverts based on biological benefit. The results should be available by early May 2008. CCNRD staff will be working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the barriers to determine which ones still need be replaced. Then CCNRD will contact landowners to determine feasibility of replacing the barrier culverts. Work in 2008 will include the preliminary work needed prior to construction, including project identification, prioritization, feasibility analysis, survey, design and permitting. Construction and some monitoring for these projects will occur in 2009. Approximately 2 barrier culverts will be replaced, however the number of culverts and culvert locations depend upon landowner willingness and environmental compliance. One location (mouth of Chumstick Creek) was provided for this contract although the actual locations will be determined after this contract is in place. The work for the 2007-09 Wenatchee Access proposal will end with the next performance period (approximately March 2010). Although some work begins in this performance period (ex. write contract bids), the construction subcontracts will not be sent out or awarded until the next performance period. Refer to the PISCES Statement of Work Report for for more details regarding the Work Elements, Milestones and timelines.

ISRP comments for this proposal are no longer relevant, since the projects that were described in the proposal were already constructed with different funding. However, the ISRP comments include:
This is a proposal to replace nine culverts on three tributaries in the Wenatchee River subbasin with pre-fabricated modular bridges. The problem of impassable or partially passable road crossings has long been known to be a problem, and there are a number of programs to correct them. According to the proposal, the three streams in question - Alder Creek, Clear Creek, and Beaver Creek - have been identified as high priority sites for barrier removal. However, documentation of species currently using these tributaries of the Middle Wenatchee and Chiwawa was not very complete, and the salmonid carrying capacity of the four miles (in total) of small streams that would be opened was not given. Other than to state that the culvert replacement projects would primarily benefit summer steelhead there was little quantitative discussion of how this work would benefit other listed species or resident fishes. Based on the information in the proposal and the photographs provided, the Alder Creek crossings appeared to be the priority candidates for replacement.

We therefore recommend that this project be funded in part with Alder Creek receiving top priority, with the understanding that additional funding may be warranted if stronger evidence for benefits to anadromous species can be presented for the Beaver Creek and Clear Creek sites.

This contract will address the ISRP comments by providing a final version of the Upper Columbia River Regional Technical Team’s (UCRTT) prioritization scheme. This document describes habitat conditions upstream from the fish barriers and the rationale behind the ranking. Structures that will replace the culverts will be described as well as how fish passage at all life stages will be assured. In addition, a monitoring plan will be created for each site that is designed for construction. The Chelan County Natural Resource Department contacted the UCRTT regarding finalizing the draft culvert prioritization framework (UCRTT 2006). On January 9, 2008 they agreed to finalize the prioritization framework. The final barrier prioritization framework will be posted to PISCES when it becomes available.

Since actual locations of priority culverts are not finalized yet, it is difficult to answer the ISRP's comments regarding species that use the tributaries, salmonid carrying capacity and impact to species other than steelhead. Based on a draft version of the UCRTT barrier prioritization, it is anticipated that the priority barrier culverts will occur in the Chumstick Creek watershed. Historically, steelhead used the Chumstick Creek drainage for spawning and rearing.  Mainstem Chumstick Creek, Little Chumstick, and Eagle Creek were all meandering channels with beaver ponds, backwaters and side channels, habitats that favor spring Chinook and steelhead rearing.  Chumstick Creek was made inaccessible to anadromous fish in 1957 with the placement of the North Road culvert, which creates a velocity barrier to upstream migration.  The Forest Service has documented steelhead spawning upstream from the North Road culvert, a limited amount of spawning and juvenile rearing of spring Chinook has been reported in the creek below the North Road culvert barrier and a healthy population of resident redband rainbow trout is found throughout Chumstick Creek.  Another species that may benefit is coho salmon, which may have historically been the most populous in Chumstick Creek. Since exact locations are not known, length and width of the stream needed to calculate carrying capacity is not available at this time.

The existing fish passage barrier culverts will be replaced by modular bridges or bottomless arch culverts. Hardened fords or low-water crossings will not be used to replace the culverts. Using modular bridges or bottomless arch culverts will ensure that fish passage will be possible for all life stages during all times of the year.

The number of projects that will be designed will depend upon the results of the UCRTT final barrier prioritization and the final BPA budget. The alternatives analysis will suggest potential actions that could occur at each site and a preferred alternative will be chosen based on biological benefits and landowner input. The feasibility analysis will involve contacting the landowners and determining their willingness to have a project at that location. Landowner Agreements will be obtained from willing landowners. Sites that do not have complete landowner willingness will be considered less feasible than ones with complete support by all landowners. The preferred alternative for each of the feasible barrier culvert sites will be identified and the project that ranks the highest will be designed for construction in 2009.