LLTK Receives Funding for Lilliwaup Creek Habitat Restoration
Posted on: February 4th, 2010
LLTK was awarded a grant of $54,600 by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB), to be used to develop a plan for improving salmon habitat in Lilliwaup Creek.
Lilliwaup Creek is home to an ESA-listed summer chum population, which for the past 16 years LLTK has worked to restore through supplementation, but the efficacy of that work has been seriously hampered by the creek’s condition. LLTK staff and local residents have long been concerned about gravel accumulations in the creek, resulting in compromised stream flow, tidal influence, estuarine connectivity, and spawning range. A lack of vegetation on the creek banks has contributed to erosion, higher water temperatures, and fewer places for salmon to feed, rest, and hide from predators. The problems were recently compounded by additional gravel accumulation and subsequent habitat loss resulting from excessive flooding in 2005 and 2007.
The SRFB grant will enable LLTK to take the first step toward restoring and protecting the anadromous reach of Lilliwaup Creek by creating a "Preliminary Project Design" that identifies sites, methods, and alternatives for restoring mainstem flows and side-stream connectivity (e.g. gravel and culvert removal); riparian and in-stream habitat (re-vegetation, installation of large woody debris); and the natural tidal influence. Upstream banks will also be assessed and stabilization alternatives proposed
