Cle Elum Fish Passage Facilities and Fish Reintroduction Project

Reclamation awarded a $75,967,000 contract on Sept. 17 to Spokane’s Garco Construction, Inc., for construction services at Cle Elum Dam. Construction activity will begin in spring 2019 and end in the summer 2023. For more info, visit: https://go.usa.gov/xPDGJ.

Reclamation awarded a $75,967,000 contract on Sept. 17, 2018 to Spokane’s Garco Construction, Inc., for construction services at Cle Elum Dam. Construction activity will begin in spring 2019 and end in the summer 2023.

Cle Elum Fish PassageThe Bureau of Reclamation and the Washington State Department of Ecology have completed the Cle Elum Fish Passage Facilities and Fish Reintroduction Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and it is available to the public.

One purpose of the project was to evaluate fish passage facilities at Cle Elum Dam, Washington, that will provide fish access to historic habitat and restore biodiversity and the natural production of anadromous salmonids in the upper Cle Elum subbasin. Specific species expected to benefit include sockeye, coho and spring Chinook salmon, and Pacific lamprey. The project would also contribute to the recovery of two species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act—the upper Middle Columbia River steelhead and bull trout.

Reclamation evaluated impacts of the proposed fish passage facilities. The preferred alternative for fish passage allows juvenile fish to pass through a multilevel gated intake structure located against the right abutment and through a conduit on the right abutment of the dam. A trap-and-haul facility is proposed for upstream passage.

In addition, Ecology and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), in collaboration with the Yakama Nation, evaluated the fish reintroduction portion of this project. Under this alternative, the Yakama Nation and WDFW would implement an active fish reintroduction program to accelerate adult and juvenile salmon repopulation in the habitat above Cle Elum Dam. A reintroduction plan was developed for sockeye salmon, coho salmon, spring Chinook salmon, summer steelhead, and Pacific lamprey. An additional objective of the plan was to provide two-way passage for resident bull trout.

For more information on the Yakima Fish Passage Study >>

Final Documents
08/2011 Reclamation Announces Record of Decision for Cle Elum Fish Passage Final Environmental Impact Statement HTML
08/2011 Record of Decision: Cle Elum Dam Fish Passage Facilities and Fish Reintroduction PDF 837 kb
04/2011 Cle Elum Dam Fish Passage Facilities and Fish Reintroduction Project Final Environmental Impact Statement PDF 3.06 mb
Planning Reports
04/2011 Final Planning Report Cle Elum Dam Fish Passage Facilities PDF 5.19 mb
01/2010 Cle Elum Dam Fish Passage Facilities and Fish Reintroduction Project Draft EIS PDF 3.06 mb
01/2010 Reclamation and Ecology Release Cle Elum Fish Passage Draft Environmental Impact Statement HTML

Contact

Richard Visser
(509) 573-8052
fishpassage@usbr.gov

Bureau of Reclamation
Pacific Northwest Region
Columbia-Cascades Area Office
1917 Marsh Road
Yakima, WA 98901-2058


Last Updated: 9/26/23