BPA grant kickstarts Gorley Springs habitat restoration

The Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) has announced it has been given a Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) grant to begin the design and implementation of a salmon habitat restoration project in the Grays River Gorley Springs area.

The area was deemed a priority in the County’s Comprehensive Flood Hazard Management Plan. For the last three years CREST has been working with Wahkiakum County to implement the plan with the goal of reducing risk to public infrastructure and private property.

The project will coordinate closely with the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board’s (LCFRB) newly formed Grays River Strategy Work Group, a collaborative process including multiple stakeholders in the development of a habitat restoration plan for the lower Grays River. Participants include CREST, Columbia Land Trust, Grays River Habitat Enhancement District, Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, Wahkiakum County, Wahkiakum Community Foundation, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA fisheries, and local landowners. LCFRB supports the Gorley Springs restoration project because of its potential benefits to numerous species of threatened salmon and steelhead in the Grays River basin.

The project will be called the “Mark Linquist/Gorley Springs Project,” after the late county commissioner Mark Linquist, who was the catalyst for working closely with the Gorley family to develop the grant proposal.

The first phase of the project will be to develop conceptual designs using existing information compiled by the Habitat District and the recently completed Watershed Assessment led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. This will provide the basis for further input from the community and eventual final design for implementation. It is anticipated that the first phase of on the ground construction will begin in summer, 2008.

For any information about the nature of the project or its status contact Amy Ammer, Project Manager, CREST, 750 Commercial Street, Room 205, Astoria, OR 97103, 503-325-0435, or aammer@colum-biaestuary.org.