Permits, closing construction window delay estuary restoration project

Contact: Rick Noble, NRCS West Area Conservationist, 360/704-7782

SPOKANE, Wash. (July 30, 2007) – As the result of state permitting issues and a rapidly closing construction window, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today announced that estuary restoration activities on the Willapa River estuarine habitat restoration project will be postponed until next year.

Through its Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) the NRCS is providing funding and technical assistance to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the owner of the 300-plus acre wetland/estuary.

The NRCS had planned to begin restoration activities on the estuary part of the restoration project this summer, with projections to complete the project before the onset of this fall’s rains.

“Unfortunately,” said NRCS State Conservationist Gus Hughbanks, “we were dealt several setbacks and delays in acquiring the necessary permit modifications to begin breaching the dike in time. As a result NRCS has been forced to cancel its bid solicitation,” he said. “No one is more disappointed with this delay than we are.”

In an effort to significantly reduce the cost of the project – and to stay within its budget for the project – NRCS recently recommended breaching the dike in several strategic locations rather than removing the entire dike.

“NRCS is responsible for the administration of the Wetlands Reserve Program and, as such, is charged with administering the program in a way that is both responsible to the taxpayers and that provides maximum conservation benefit to the public at large,” Hughbanks said.

“NRCS is sensitive to the concerns of the local South Bend population and all taxpayers relative to the high cost of investing in estuary restoration activities and is committed to the wise use of program dollars in carrying out conservation activities,” he said.

The dike breaching modification would have provided nearly all of the resource benefits of full dike removal, according to Hughbanks, and would have saved an estimated 50 percent in construction costs, all while achieving the goals of wetlands restoration.

And because NRCS is the lead federal agency, Hughbanks said, it is also responsible for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for the Willapa Restoration project. The Willapa River dike, originally built in 1890 to protect the town of Sea Haven, is a significant historic property eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office confirms that, if full dike removal occurred, NRCS would have to record the site to state and national standards, which would have added significantly to the total restoration costs,” he said.

While the agency had previously acquired the necessary permits to remove the entire dike, it was required to re-apply for a Corp of Engineers 404 permit, hydrologic permit from WDFW and for a water quality permit from Washington’s Department of Ecology to remove just a portion of the dike (approximately 10-percent). “The time delay associated with getting all of the permit revisions,” Hughbanks said, “means the NRCS will have to wait until next spring to solicit bids from contractors.”

NRCS now plans to award the contract in early summer of 2008.

Meanwhile, restoration work on the freshwater component of the project is nearing the half-way mark. Due to the unexpected delay in construction on the estuary portion of the project, NRCS is working with WDFW to ensure proper hydrologic flows and wetland functions through the winter.

“Obviously,” Hughbanks said, “not being able to move forward this construction season complicates the process. But we’re working diligently to ensure that all of the pieces will be in place to proceed as expeditiously as possible early next year.”

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