Elwha River Restoration Community Update

Since the last update in December the Elwha River Restoration office has been busy. Several staff members and Business Council members traveled back to Washington D.C. , February 21 thru 27, to visit with the congressional delegation (Congressman Norm Dicks, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell) and agencies (Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, United States Army Corp of Engineers). The intent of the meetings was to seek alternative sources of funding for the Tribal wastewater project and continued support for Tribal deference to projects on reservation.

On February 11, 2004 a meeting was held between river restoration staff, housing director, and the housing board, which allowed for meaningful discussion regarding impacts of housing due to wastewater, levee, hatchery and the primary access road.

Hatchery Modification

The Tribe is working with MWH (Montgomery Watson Harza) to address issues raised by the NPS (National Park Service) regarding the Hatchery Site Alternative Analysis. The Tribe submitted its responses to questions the NPS raised and hope that concurrence from the NPS on the Hatchery Site Alternative Analysis will be provided. Once concurrence is provided then the Tribe can move forward on the preliminary and final designs for the Tribal hatchery.

The NPS and State of Washington are working together to develop temporary Chinook salmon acclimation ponds along Morse Creek. T he precautionary and temporary transfer of Elwha River Chinook salmon out of the Elwha basin during the dam removal impact period can provide additional protection for this listed fish. Activities at the Morse Creek facility will continue through 2016, the last 5 years will be collecting all Fall Chinook Salmon for potential egg bank and/or transfer of adult Fall Chinook to upper Elwha River watershed. The transfer and rear to release from Morse Creek will occur through 2011.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for the production of Elwha River Chinook salmon at the Elwha River Rearing Channel. Elwha River Chinook salmon are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The Tribe is working to address the need to take water from the Elwha River from a source not located on the reservation. At the Tribes current hatchery location water is provided through an infiltration gallery adjacent to the river at RM 1.3 and two wells located on the hatchery grounds (on reservation water source). Several studies were conducted to quantity the type and extent of sediment release that will occur following dam removal. Both studies concluded that the risks to take water for the hatchery on reservation was to great and that water for the hatchery would need to be provided by a new surface water intake and water treatment plant be constructed to supply water for the industrial and fisheries users (off reservation water source). URS recommended the plant be constructed near the current industrial water supply intake and the WDFW rearing channel at RM 3.2.

The Tribes legal council, Russ Busch and Robert Anderson, are working together to prepare a report on the Requirements Necessary to provide 28 cfs of Elwha River Water to the Elwha Klallam Tribe's Hatchery Located on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Reservation . The Tribe already has a senior federally reserved right to take water from the Elwha River. Both the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Washington Supreme Court have recognized federally reserved water rights for Indian fisheries.

Wastewater Mitigation

The Tribe is working with the city of Port Angeles on a general agreement to allow for the transport of wastewater from the reservation to the city of Port Angeles wastewater facility. The state and county are reviewing the general agreement to make sure it complies with State and County regulations. Once the general agreement is reviewed then it will go to the Port Angeles City council and Tribal council for approval and signatures.

Primary Access Road

Recently the Tribe has learned thru BIA, Northwest Region office, branch of roads that initial projections provided by the outside consulting engineers for the cost of the access road were understated. The Tribe will be contracting with an engineering firm to perform the needed geotechnical analysis that will help to provide a stronger estimate of road construction costs.

The Tribe is grateful to have received 2.3 million dollars in Federal Lands Discretionary funding in the fiscal year 2003 Transportation Appropriations bill for this important project.

The Tribe is coordinating with the Discovery Trail project to allow for a cooperative approach to building the shoulder to a width that the discovery trail may use.