The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

It's back to the drawing board for Columbia Land Trust and plans for a new slough on the Kandoll Farm below Rosburg.

With Wahkiakum County commissioners and the Grays River Habitat Enhancement District, the land trust has been working on plans to address erosion of privately owned dikes on Seal Slough and the flooding problems that have plagued Kandoll Road landowners since the land trust embarked on a salmon habitat restoration project on the former Kandoll family farm at the end of the road.

This past summer, the group and consulting engineers from the firm Cardno ENTRIX came up with the idea of digging a new slough on the Kandoll Farm that would drain into the Grays River instead of Seal Slough. The concept also included installing some new tidegates in existing dikes at flood level to aid drainage during flooding.

Cardno ENTRIX submitted a draft scope of work on the design in September, and the stakeholders met Tuesday to review it.

Ian Sinks, habitat restoration manager for the land trust, reported on an update of the proposed plan: Two 13-foot culverts now draining the Kandoll Farm into Seal Slough would be closed, and all drainage would be through a new slough going into the Grays. Previously, the closure of the culverts was just a possibility dependent on the new slough providing sufficient access for juvenile salmon, and Sinks said the updated plan should meet that requirement.

Those present, Sinks from Land Trust, Delvin Fredrickson and Poul Toftemark of the enhancement district, and county Commissioners Lisa Marsyla and Blair Brady, agreed to find engineering and planning services.

Sinks said that Cardno ENTRIX wanted $240,000 for design work and had given a rough estimate of $700,000 for the construction work.

"They are good, and their rates reflect that," he commented. However, he added, the land trust is a private, non-profit organization relying on contributions and grants, and they felt they couldn't afford those numbers.

The others agreed.

"That kind of money isn't available," Brady said.

Between the stakeholders, Sinks said, they should have enough knowledge, experience and existing data to design the project.

They would need consultants for performing hydrodynamic modeling of the project to check what impacts the new drainage pattern might create.

Land trust personnel are also consulting with Bonneville Power Administration and other possible grant funding partners for the project, he said.

Fredrickson said the enhancement district could assist, possibly by providing engineering services.

Sinks said he would consult with other land trust personnel about the concept, funding and liability issues and report by email to the others on October 17. The group should meet again in early November to plan its next steps.