Swan Creek Habitat Restoration Project
Location: Commencement Bay, Washington.
Funding source: City of Tacoma settlement.
Design Objectives
- Enhance an intertidal area for juvenile salmonid migration.
- Establish marsh vegetation.
- Protect the site for natural resources.
Site Summary
The city of Tacoma has developed a stream restoration project on 12 acres of property bordering Swan Creek near the city of Tacoma corporate boundary and the Puyallup River. The location of this project adjacent to both Swan Creek Regional Park and the Port of Tacoma restoration properties presents opportunities for both habitat restoration and public outreach. The project establishes freshwater, in-channel, and off-channel stream habitat; restores and enhances refuge habitat for juvenile salmonids; provides increased and enhanced habitat for wetland-dependent species; and eliminates fish passage impediments to the re-establishment of anadromous salmon stocks in Swan Creek Canyon.
Restoration Activities
Activities associated with site habitat restoration include the excavation of approximately 2 acres of filled wetland property to create off-channel wetland and open-water habitat for juvenile anadromous salmonids and other wildlife species; evaluation and implementation of habitat improvements, including possible channel relocation, in an area of the stream adjacent to the Burlington-Northern railroad tracks; evaluation of existing fish passage and implementation of recommended passage improvements in the stream channel upstream of the railroad tracks; and the planting of native vegetation within and adjacent to newly created wetlands and on nearby hill slopes.
See Photo Gallery for post-construction photos.
