Thurston County’s Fish Passage Program completes 13 projects  

Thurston County Public Works staff presented an overview of the Fish Passage Enhancement Program to the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) yesterday, August 12. 

The program’s site stated that the BoCC directed Public Works to develop this program to replace fish passage barriers in, around, and under county roads. 

Barriers may be in the form of road culverts, dams, dikes, and other potential obstructions to the passage of fish going upstream.  

“The goal of this program is to replace anadromous fish barriers…within county right-of-way, and right now we have identified over 300 county-owned barriers within our right-of-way,” said Marcus Storvick, Thurston County Public Works Senior Civil Engineer. 

Thurston County Public Works Senior Environmental Coordinator Elena Fernandez explained that anadromous fish spawn in freshwater and migrate out to the ocean. Coho salmon, which Fernandez said is most common in the county, belongs to this category. 

The eight-year program has led to the construction of 13 separate projects which have replaced 24 culverts and opened 17 miles of habitat, with a price tag averaging $1 million per mile. The program also secured around $9.5M in grant funds. 

Fish enhancement program  

In 2017, Thurston County started the Fish Passage Enhancement Program in response to the 2013 “Culverts Case” injunction of 21 northwest Washington tribes against the state. Thurston County was not mentioned in the lawsuit, but the county chose to take on the fish barriers project anyway. 

Some of the finished projects under the program are located on Peissner Rd SE at Elbow Lake Creek project, and on Latigo & Chehalis W at Spurgeon Creek. 

Storvick said that some studies are planned to start soon. They are located at 36th Ave NW & Kaiser Rd NW at Green Cove Creek, Kellogg Dr NE at Henderson Inlet Tributary, and Rainier Rd SE & Spurgeon Creek Rd SE at Spurgeon Creek. 

“We have a list of projects that we are planning to complete studies for. This doesn't guarantee construction. Think of this as…fact-finding to help inform our project planning, determining project feasibility, and…give us the information to pursue grant funding,” said Fernandez. 

Fernandez also discussed the economic benefit of the project, claiming the funds spent on this project create jobs.  

On August 12, 2024, Thurston County Public Works staff gave the Board of County Commissioners an overview of the Fish Passage Enhancement Program. (Left to right: County Engineer Matt Unzelman, Senior Environmental Coordinator Elena Fernandez, and Senior Civil Engineer Marcus Storvick).

JOLT Staff Photo via YouTube

The presentation showed data on sport and commercial fishing supporting 16,000 jobs and generating $540 million statewide in personal income. The presentation also posited that every $1 million spent on the project generates $2.5 million in economic activity. 

The agenda document stated that the current 2024-2025 budget includes $4 million in Real Estate Excise Tax (REET2) funds allocated for the program.