Several years ago, there was a judicial order that required the state of Washington to repair or replace culverts that restricted fish passage. At a Snohomish County Sustainable Land Strategy meeting, it was estimated that it would take 40 years to engineer, permit and construct the upgraded crossings within the state.
Currently, on Ebey Island, a collapsed culvert under a one-way county road is being replaced with an engineered designed fish passage structure. It is in line with a shallow seasonal drainage ditch. There are no streams and creeks that flow onto Ebey Island. A dike encompasses the entire island. The rain that falls onto the island is either pumped or removed by tide gates.
There may only be stickleback and small perch in Ebey Island’s Deadwater Slough and larger drainage ditches. The waterways on Ebey will not support salmon or most fish species. An expensive million-dollar structure will accomplish nothing more than a $5,000 to $10,000 culvert could have achieved. There are five other culvert crossings on Ebey Island that are failing and will soon need to be replaced.
It does not make any sense to spend millions of dollars to replace culverts with engineered structures when there are no fish and never will be as long as the island is diked.
Making a rule or law for all situations within an area is usually unpractical and a fallacy. Usually, it would be better if common sense and stewardship of time, energy, and resources prevailed in making decisions.
Dan Bartelheimer
Snohomish
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