Lower Cowiche Floodplain Restoration

What’s going on?

Cowiche Creek has been the focus of restoration efforts by Mid-Columbia Fisheries and others for several years. The Department of Ecology included Cowiche Creek on its list of streams impacted by high water temperatures and bacteria. A long standing railroad berm (top right) supported primarily weeds and non-native vegetation, which alter ecosystem functions and reduces stream shading. Additionally, by constricting the creek, the berm caused high stream velocities which reduce habitat complexity and cause the stream channel to become entrenched and narrow. The resulting stream condition provided poor habitat for native salmon and steelhead.

In the fall of 2023, with funding from the Regional Fisheries Enhancement Program, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and the Washington Department of Ecology, Mid-Columbia Fisheries completed a large restoration project in Lower Cowiche Creek, which removed over 7000 cubic yards of berm material and nearly 40 tons of concrete. In the footprint of the berm, native trees and shrubs were planted to provide shade to the stream and capture sediment (bottom right). The project will be in stewardship over the next few years, so keep your eye out for volunteer activities, and take a stroll on the recently placed trail system to get a good view of the project!!!

Left: the railroad berm pictured in June 2025. Foreground plants were planted as part of the construction of the pedestrian trail in 2024; background plants were planted in 2023.