Fish habitat projects to begin in Columbia Gorge

TROUTDALE, Ore. — Construction will begin in August on salmon habitat improvement projects in the Sandy River delta and at Benson State Recreation Area in the west end of the Columbia River Gorge.

The work will improve the connections between large tracks of off-channel areas in the floodplain and the Columbia River.

At Benson, a diversion structure will be modified to increase streamflow and a storm water swale added to treat runoff from a parking lot. The Sandy River project will remove a water control structure that impeded passage and will make it easier for salmon and lamprey to enter and exit.

Juvenile fish can only access the Sandy River delta during the high water of April through June, then get trapped when the water recedes.

The building of Interstate 84, plus the clearing of forests for grazing cattle, lessened the connections at both sites for young fish, which use the sites for feeding and resting.

The work will take about three months. It is a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.

Both projects also will plant native trees and shrubs and place large logs and root wads in the streams and wetlands.