Three salmon and river-related projects on the Plateau have received funding from the King County Flood Reduction Grant Program.

An Oct. 9 press release said that more than $1.6 million in total grants were provided to the city of Enumclaw, the King County Road Services Division, and the King Conservation District to help implement these projects.

The big project — at least at this time — is replacing a culvert under SE Mud Mountain Road, just west of Pinnacle Peak.

The $1.3 million undertaking, according to the Flood Reduction Grant Program, will replace a 48-inch culvert in a White River tributary that is currently a “complete barrier” to fish.

These funds will be used for preliminary design, and construction funds will come later, with work potentially starting 2028, though that date is likely to change.

Another $60,000 is being provided to the city of Enumclaw to design and permit a project to replace a small culvert under Battersby Avenue for a tributary to Watercress Creek.

This will help both enhance fish passage in the area and reduce flooding in the area.

A similar project was recently completed when King County replaced two aging culverts under on SE 432nd Street on Oct. 4.

The project began on Aug. 9 and the street was closed for eight weeks.

The third is creating a new bridge project over Pussyfoot Creek on a farm near Wabash, which will prevent both erosions and flooding on the farm.

This project received $30,000; work is expected to begin July 1, 2025, and end by November.

NEWAUKUM BANK REPLANTING

In related news, King County was also recently awarded nearly $500,000 from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board to plant native trees and shrubs on the Newaukum and Big Spring Creeks.

“Stream temperatures consistently exceed State standards for salmon spawning and incubation, and for juvenile rearing; salmonid use is likely limited by these high water temperatures. Temperatures exceed the lethal threshold for spawning and incubation at [a portion of] Newaukum Creek during late summer and early fall periods,” the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office wrote on the project description. “… Riparian restoration will eventually provide shade, overhanging cover, and large wood inputs on 17 acres adjacent to Newaukum and Big Spring creeks.”

A permit application to proceed with the $600,000 project has been submitted, but not yet approved.