Suquamish Tribe's creek project wins $1.7 million

CHICO, Kitsap County — When salmon return to Chico Creek, the most productive salmon stream on the Kitsap Peninsula, they must first maneuver through a troublesome culvert where the stream pours into Chico Bay.

Now, after years of planning and widespread support, the Suquamish Tribe has compiled $1.7 million to remove the culvert, build a new driveway for isolated property owners, and widen the estuary to a more natural condition. Kitsap County won't be on the hook for any of the cost.

"All the grants have been approved," said Tom Ostrom, environmental biologist for the Suquamish Tribe. "Now, we're working with the county on an agreement that will have [Kitsap County] Public Works doing much of the work related to engineering and construction."

This plan won't replace the culvert under Kittyhawk Drive. Instead, it will remove the culvert entirely, leaving a more natural streambed.

Since Kittyhawk is a dead-end road, a new driveway from Chico Way is planned to serve two homes that will no longer have access from Kittyhawk.

To obtain enough money to acquire property and pay for the work, Ostrom pieced together three grants:

• $600,000 from the Puget Sound Estuary Program, managed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

• $884,000 from the Navy for environmental mitigation related to the $162 million Pier B project at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

• $215,000 from the state's Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program.

Once the agreement between the county and tribe is signed, engineers in Kitsap County Public Works will work on the design of the driveway and fish ladders. The fish ladders will gradually raise the stream elevation to allow salmon through a second culvert under Highway 3. The project also calls for removing some or all of the fill placed in the estuary when the road was built years ago.

The county will hire consultants to conduct biological and geotechnical assessments needed to obtain state and federal permits.

If the county and tribe can quickly reach agreement for managing the grants and if permits are approved without much delay, the project could be under construction in 2012. One permit must come from the Army Corps of Engineers, which is required to consult with other federal agencies because Kitsap's shorelines are listed as critical habitat for salmon under the Endangered Species Act.

Once the culvert under Kittyhawk is removed, attention will turn to a state highway culvert upstream. That culvert is ranked as a high priority for replacement, but state officials say it could cost close to $30 million.

"We're going to have to be very creative on that one," said Ostrom, who noted that funding will be a challenge. "It's a high priority because it is a very important stream, probably the most important watershed we have in Kitsap County."