1. Identifying Barriers to Fish Passage in Mason County
CEE 424: GIS for Civil Engineers
Tom Satterthwaite
Fall 2009

2. Overview
Purpose: Use GIS data to develop a list of priority fish passage locations as potential restoration projects for further investigation
Define priority fish barriers
Review regulatory and non-regulatory practices in crossing a fish bearing stream
Analyze an inventory of fish barriers resulting from road construction
Study area: Mason County, WA

3. Fish Barriers
Prevent fish, especially salmon, from reaching critical habitat
Man-made fish barriers:
roads
dams
reservoirs
Natural barriers: debris or water falls
Barriers can be partial or complete
barrier at Middle Stimson; this barrier has been replaced
Photo: Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group

4. Salmon Species native to Mason County
chum
chinook
coho
sockeye
Sources: King County Salmon and Trout Identification; and U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service;
pink

5. Regulatory Background
WAC : bridges are preferred method to cross a fish bearing stream
Less expensive methods:
temporary culverts
bottomless arch culverts
arch culverts
round culverts
new bridge to cross stream at Bear Creek Dewatto Culvert Replacement Project.
Photo: Mason County
Baffles and weirs used to fix existing culverts, but are no longer preferred.

6. Agency & Public Involvement
State agencies: WDFW, WSDOT, WDOE
Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIA)
Mason County
Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups
Many non-profit organizations and individuals

7. GIS Data Obtained GIS data from:
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Washington Department of Transportation
Mason County
Washington Department of Ecology
Constraints for high priority passages
method of filtering for blocked passages: blocked passage had to be in the vicinity of a stream with a depressed or critical population, chose 200 feet to obtain points close to the mouth of a tributary.

8. Culvert Replacement
After: Bear Creek replacement culvert eliminates barrier problem to access critical habitat
Before: Bear Creek fish barrier
Source: Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group; Habitat Restoration Projects; Culvert Projects.

9. Blocked Fish Passage Selection Points

10. Ten Locations Selected
for further investigation

11. Initial Findings Partially blocked fish passages found: 388
Totally blocked fish passages found: 140
Blocked fish passages that meet the initial screening: 15
3 are ineligible due to proximity to State Roads, 2 because they are natural barriers
Final number of fish barrier locations selected: 10

12. Next Steps
Contact state and local agencies and regional fisheries enhancement groups.
Conduct a barrier assessment, as outlined in WDFW’s Fish Barrier and Surface Water Diversion Screening Assessment and Prioritization Manual (August 2000)