ROBE – Help is on the way for residents of River Shore Lane who have been fighting a losing battle with the South Fork Stillaguamish River since 2003.
Floods that year dumped a few houses in the river as banks eroded.
Now, an unusual $800,000 bank stabilization project has begun.
With help from Snohomish County, the neighborhood formed the Robe Valley Flood Control District and secured a federal grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The grant calls for building a rock weirs, shaped like giant compass points, into the current of the river
The weirs are designed to collect sediment and logs to resemble a natural bank and push the river away from a dangerous bend aimed at River Shore Lane.
The design is meant to be more fish-friendly than simple rock barriers, which biologists say are poor habitat.
Construction is scheduled to be finished by Aug. 31, before adult salmon return to spawn, said John Engle, a supervisor for the county’s Surface Water Management division.
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