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Fennel Creek floodplain reconnection project credited with absorbing December floods

Salmon Recovery Funding Board (meeting hosted by the Recreation and Conservation Office) · March 10, 2026

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Summary

Pierce County’s Fennel Creek floodplain reconnection — a series of five RCO‑funded SURFboard projects combining design, acquisition and construction — created overflow channels and berm notches that engaged during December floods and reduced damage to downstream infrastructure.

The board heard a field‑level presentation on the Fennel Creek Floodplain Reconnection project, a multi‑phase effort in the Puyallup/Chambers lead entity supported by Pierce County and RCO grants. Grants manager Kaye MacLachlan said Pierce County received a $450,000 SURFboard award and provided $92,000 in match for the 2023 phase, which included berm notching, construction of 0.4 miles of overflow channels, removal of three small culverts and installation of three beaver dam analogs on an unnamed tributary.

MacLachlan said the 2023 phase built on earlier design and construction investments dating to 2007 and 2011; across five SURFboard‑funded projects the county received about $2.2 million in awards and $455,000 in match. RCO staff and county managers told the board that the projects were "shovel ready" because of phased designs and prior acquisitions and that the constructed channels were engaged during the December flood period with no major damage that required corrective work.

Project features include increased sinuosity, pools, large woody debris, riparian planting and off‑channel wetland complexity to provide spawning and rearing habitat. MacLachlan urged continued emphasis on phased design‑to‑construction sequencing for rapid deployment and noted that floodplain reconnection projects also delivered co‑benefits for infrastructure resilience and flood risk reduction.

Board members commended the county and project partners and emphasized that floodplain reconnection can reduce risk to nearby properties while improving fish habitat.