~Restoration Completed~

Bean Creek • Cooper Landing, AK
Summer 2006

Bean Creek is a tributary of the world famous Kenai River, providing nursing grounds for KING SALMON and many other species. About a mile upstream from the Kenai River, Raven Road crosses this stream. The culvert under Raven Road was too small and suspended about a foot and a half above the natural stream. This "perch" blocked all juvenile salmon from reaching their preferred nursery. We identified this site in 2005 and fixed it this summer.

As you can see from the photos and captions, culvert replacement and stream restoration projects have major construction components that come with a hefty price. This project cost roughly $115,000 - a small amount compared to upcoming projects. In 2007, we are expecting to spend nearly $500,000 on Leaf and Slikok Creeks. Ideally we would like to have planners design and develop roads with a better understanding of how to properly cross an anadromous stream. Until then, we’ll continue to fix these crossings one by one.

	Before restoration Culvert at Raven Road crossing of Bean Creek. This culvert was improperly sized and perched 18” above the stream. Juvenile fish cannot make this leap, so several miles of salmon habitat were blocked.
	Juvenile king salmon caught in the plunge pool below the culvert. This fish was probably born in the Kenai River and was working its way to more fertile rearing habitat when it was blocked by the poorly designed culvert.
	D&L Construction did an outstanding job on this project. Here they are removing the old pipe.
	Final touches to help keep sediment out of the stream while newly planted vegetation takes hold.
	After restoration Success! Moments after water was released into the new culvert, we were able to stand on the bank upstream and watch juvenile king salmon jet through the new culvert.

 

Partners in this effort US Fish & Wildlife Service Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game Natural Resource Conservation Service D&L Construction Wince, Corthell, Bryson Many thanks to those that worked long hours this summer to make this project happen!