More than 30 years ago a portion of Meridian Valley Creek was routed into a concrete flume along SE 256th Street in Kent to accommodate the road and alleviate roadside flooding concerns. The flume made fish passage difficult and did not provide habitat for coho salmon and resident trout.
 
Anchor QEA staff led a team that provided the design of a relocated, fish-passable and habitat-enhanced channel for the City of Kent Public Works Department.  Anchor QEA’s role on the project included hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, stream geomorphology analyses, and the design of the new stream channel including substrate, pool, and riffle sequences, large wood placement, and revegetation of the stream corridor. Anchor QEA staff also provided time-critical site planning to avoid conflicts with a regional wastewater lift station that was constructed just prior to the stream improvements..

The final design re-created a natural stream by excavating a 1,150- foot-long meandering channel through 4 acres of open land and existing wetlands adjacent to Big Soos Creek. The new stream channel incorporates large woody debris, spawning gravel, and scour pools that can be used as resting areas for the resident and anadromous fish. The new channel and backwater areas also provide additional habitat to amphibians and other wildlife in the Big Soos Creek Watershed.

The Meridian Valley Creek project is the first stream restoration project constructed under the auspices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Green/Duwamish River Ecosystem Restoration Program. The Corps of Engineers and the City of Kent provided funding to design and construct the project. The project is part of a 10-year federal program to restore critical habitat throughout the river basin.

For more information about this project, please contact Bob Montgomery, P.E., at rmontgomery@anchorqea.com.