Elwha Fish Hatchery contract awarded
September 18th, 2009 - 2:53pm
(Port Angeles) -- Another major step today towards the Elwha River restoration.
The National Park Service’s Denver Service Center announced the award of a contract to construct a new fish hatchery on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Reservation six miles west of Port Angeles.
James W. Fowler Co. General Contractors of Dallas, Oregon will be the prime contractor for construction of this 16-point-3 million dollar project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The new hatchery will help maintain existing Elwha River fish stocks during removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams and will produce coho, pink, and chum salmon and steelhead vital to restoration of the Elwha ecosystem.
The existing Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Rearing Channel will continue to support the river’s Chinook salmon population.
The fish hatchery must be completed and in place before dam removal can begin.
Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin says at the heart of Elwha restoration is restoration of the river’s native
fish populations.
Gustin adds the new hatchery will allow the Tribe to raise populations of salmon and steelhead that will used in restoring the Elwha River after the dams are gone.
Elwha River Restoration Director for the Lower Elwha
Klallam Tribe Robert Elofson says the tribe has been working on Elwha River restoration for 30 years and is happy to begin the first of three large tribal projects that are part of restoring the river.
Construction of the Lower Elwha Tribe Fish Hatchery is scheduled to begin this fall and take 16 months to complete.
The project will consist of site and access road improvements,
water supply and drainage pipelines, water supply wells and 2 buildings.
Other items include fish culture facilities including raceways, ponds, and adult holding ponds, a fish ladder, and
related mechanical and electrical systems.
The fish hatchery project was designed by the Bellevue offices of M-W-H.
Construction management services will be provided by the
P-B-S-&-J Corporation.
The work is one of nearly 800 projects totaling $750 million across the National Park Service that will be completed with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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