4. A Success Story!
• Order of magnitude increase in coho smolt production
(103
→ 104
, ~29,000/year)
• Now #
2 producer in South Puget Sound
• Only Puget Sound system with recent production increase
• Mostly because dam removed in 2001
• Opened > 25 miles of stream channel habitat
• Wasn’t always this way….
8. The Good!
• Impervious surface = ~8%, < above Shelton
• Capitol Land Trust = ~350 acres conserved riparian
habitat
• Headwaters = working forestlands w/landmark Green
Diamond HCP signed in 2000
• Large functional wetlands
downstream of headwaters
• Meets WQS for temperature
in spawning reaches
• Last dam year = 2001!
August 13, 2004
9. Goldsborough Dam
• Dam constructed
1921
• 14’ high x 100’
wide
• By 1996 = 35’
high
• Provided H20 for
steam generation
• Partial fish
passage built in
1939
10. Dam Removal
• Damaged in 1996 flood
• Removed September 2001
• Restoration Goals
– Provide full fish passage
– Protect downstream property
– Compensate for upstream
aggradation/downstream
degradation
• Placed 36 concrete weirs over
1700’ (because ACE project)
• Cost = $4.8M
• Environmental Benefits
– Opened > 25 miles of stream
– 2/3 of spawning now above
dam site
11.
12. The Bad!
• Shelton Harbor
– Always a
working harbor
– Incremental
habitat
improvements
possible
15. The Ugly!
• Winter Creek
– Why the loss
of flow?
– Hydrogeology
study coming
16. More Ugly!
• Downtown Shelton reach
– Migratory corridor -- Widespread panic
w/flooding history whenever a tree falls in
17. Environmental Outcomes
• By 2020, increase coho smolt production by
15%
• EDT prediction of potential = 34,000/year
• (By 2020, achieve approved status for
shellfish harvest
throughout
Oakland Bay)
18. Goldsborough Summary
Good Bad Ugly
Headwaters X Winter Creek
(lacks flow)
Wetlands X (address invasives)
Canyon X RR
(re-connect
floodplain)
City X
(constrained by flood
risk to city)
Harbor X
(re-establish estuary
functions in working
harbor)
19. Keys to Success
• Fast response of a relatively healthy system
• Systematic approach to biological recovery
• Tribal leadership important to motivate partners
• Large, diverse & eager
partnership
• Initial success brought
additional financial support
Photo by Joe Puhn