Boise Creek is officially re-routed through the Enumclaw Golf Course.

City officials, along with representatives from the golf course, the Puyallup Tribe, the Washington State Department of Ecology, King County, the project contractor and others gathered at the course on Oct. 8 for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the achievement.

“This is… a great opportunity for the golf course, and we thank each and every one of you for the job you did,” Enumclaw Mayor Jan Molinaro said at the event.

While construction on the 0.6-mile stretch of new riverbed only lasted a year and a half, having started in June 2023, the Puyallup Tribe has been studying how to improve the habitat since 2008.

Boise Creek happens to be one of the most productive salmon-producing streams in the region for Steelhead, Coho, Pink, and Fall Chinook Salmon, as well as the rare Spring Chinook run, which has been leveled as “critical” to salmon population recovery, contractor Herrera noted on its website about the project.

However, due to its previous route through the golf course, and exposure to direct sunlight it sometimes became fatal to salmon and trout due to high temperatures. The new route has the creek hugging the tree line on the east end of the course to provide both shade and, with additional improvements, pockets of water for to allow fish to rest, feed, and avoid predators.

Additionally, seasonal flooding not only picked up gravel and other debris from the golf course, which choked the river with contaminates, but also affected golf course accessibility by closing off numerous holes and greens to players for large chunks of the year.

“Keeping the golfing public away, that disturbance factor alone is going to be huge” in improving creek water quality, said Russ Ladley, fisheries director at the Puyallup Tribe. “… The fish are going to be very happy.”

Bill Jensen, owner of the golf course, said he has already received compliments about these improvements.

“We have golfers returning to this golf course and telling us how much they love it, appreciated it,” he said. “We made some improvements in other areas, but [this project] has made a heck of a difference in terms of the enjoyment of playing the golf course.”

The whole project cost about $3 million, with grants coming from the Department of Ecology, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Fund, and the state legislature.

Interestingly enough, Boise Creek was rerouted in 1940 when the golf course was built, so this project actually restored the creek’s natural route.

Numerous representatives of various municipal and county governments, plus officials of various county and state departments, gathered on the Enumclaw Golf Course on Oct. 8 to officially cut the ribbon on a Boise Creek re-route project. Included is Enumclaw Councilmember Tom Sauvageau (second from the left) and Enumclaw Mayor Jan Molinaro (fourth from the left). Photo by Ray Miller-Still