Gold Creek Restoration Project [Video]

Today, what looks to be a beautiful pond is in reality a large gravel borrow pit that is pulling water from an adjacent creek. The dewatering of Gold Creek leaves it too dry and disconnected for fish to migrate during certain times of the year; instead, the fish get stranded in small pools and need to be rescued.

The Gold Creek area, about 55 miles east of Seattle in the Cascade Range, is about to experience a massive transformation, one that will reopen pathways of wildlife migration and return the cold, clear water that the Endangered Species Act-listed bull trout and other anadromous fish need to survive. Thanks to a $5 million grant from the National Fish Passage Program with funds made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, ground on the Gold Creek Valley Restoration Project is expected to be broken in summer 2025. The BIL money along with in-kind matches provides the $8.4 million toward instream restoration work for 2.5 miles of streambed. The project will limit dewatering and disconnection of the river. This will reduce stranding and allow upstream passage of adult bull trout to their spawning habitat in summer. The entire project is expected to cost about $50 million. When completed, it will open 8 miles of upstream habitat and reconnect 245 acres of floodplain and restore recreation opportunities at a beautiful and beloved site.

The Gold Creek Valley Restoration Project is a partnership between the Kittitas Conservation Trust, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and several programs within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including Fish and Aquatic Conservation, Ecological Services, and Partners for Fish and Wildlife, along with many other federal and state groups and private landowners.

Read the full story about the project: https://www.fws.gov/story/2024-09/5-million-bil-funding-set-transform-habitat-bull-trout-gold-creek

USFWS video: Lena Chang

Descending shot over evergreen forest, with dry riverbed to the left and blue pond on the right for 15 seconds; camera then moves upstream on dry riverbed past the tops of trees, with more forest in the distance for another 15 seconds.