Battle Ground contractor Tapani Inc. has been selected as the primary contractor for Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership’s habitat restoration project on the East Fork Lewis River.
The total cost for the project is estimated at $23.5 million, with 46 percent of the budget allocated to Tapani’s construction contract.
The restoration project will reclaim the former Ridgefield Pits gravel mines near Daybreak Regional Park and other floodplain areas, restore 200 acres of floodplain to benefit juvenile salmon and other native species, recharge groundwater aquifers, and reduce flood and erosion risk to neighboring homes and businesses. Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership also plans to relocate the county maintenance yard on Northeast 269th Street — out of the 100-year floodplain and away from a rapidly eroding riverbank — to the Daybreak Trail area.
Flooding in 1995 and 1996 shifted the course of the East Fork Lewis River and flooded the abandoned mining pits, creating warm water ponds that blocked access for fish traveling to the upper portion of the watershed. Since then, salmon and steelhead spawning has been eliminated, and rearing opportunities have been significantly reduced. The warm water ponds also make it easier for other fish to prey on salmon.
This is the second major habitat restoration project for the partnership, which completed work at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge in mid-2022. It will also be the largest habitat restoration project on the East Fork Lewis River, Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, spokeswoman for the estuary partnership, said previously.
Tapani and other bidders underwent a rigorous selection process that included review of bidder qualifications, multiple site visits, interviews and a detailed bid process, according to the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
“Our crews know this river well. It’s where our families fish, swim and explore,” Brandon Farmer, senior project manager for Tapani, said in a news release Wednesday.
Construction funding for the project, which is slated to break ground this spring, comes from the state Department of Ecology’s Floodplains by Design program, Washington Recreation and Conservation Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Zimmer-Stucky said there was some initial concern about the availability of NOAA funds after a proposed freeze on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant funding was announced at the end of January. Some of the funding freeze was lifted after a judge issued a temporary restraining order last week.
Zimmer-Stucky said the freeze didn’t delay the project but did delay key project announcements.
Construction on the East Fork Lewis River project is expected to be completed within two years.
