The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-On April 21 officials from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife presented the public with a progress update on implementation actions for the W. T. Wooten Wildlife Area Floodplain Management Plan.

Tracy Drury, the principal engineer from Anchor QEA in Bellingham, Wash., presented an overview of the goals for the Tucannon Lakes.

Drury said that, with the exception of Spring Lake and Blue Lake, all the lakes constrict the floodplain. Also, six out of the eight lakes violate the state's dam and safety regulations. These include Spring Lake, Blue Lake, Deer Lake, Rainbow Lake, Watson Lake and Big Four Lake.

And sedimentation is a big issue, said Drury. Some of the lakes will need to be mitigated, or reconfigured, he said.

The State has set aside $2 million dollars for the 2015-17 biennium for continued implementation of the FMP projects and the reserves from that will go to dredging Rainbow Lake, Drury said.

Other goals for the Rainbow Lake project are to increase the length and volume of the lake and expand it to the south, reduce the water temperature, and improve its quality, increase its stocking capacity, provide for angler access, improve and expand day use, improve dam safety, and reduce seepage.

In 2015 the WDFW completed a draft pre-design report for the reconfiguration of Rainbow Lake. Site investigation options are under development, and include survey data collection, and geotechnical and hydrologic investigations.

The timeline for construction for initial actions will be May or June of 2017, Drury told the audience.

In 2018 the dam will be removed and repaired, and the lake will be set back further on the floodplain, he said.

Drury said that improvement will be made to other lakes, as well.

Spring Lake will also be dredged due to sedimentation, but the existing dam will not be moved, he said.

"Right now Beaver Lake is used as a sediment pond, and the fish are going into Watson Lake," said Drury. Plans call for making Beaver Lake and Watson Lake into one lake, he said.

Drury pointed to two large watersheds flowing into the river on either end of Beaver and Watson lakes.

"We want to capture the water somehow," he said about diverting the watersheds into the lake. "Our goal is to drop the lake to fluctuate with the river," said Drury. "We can do that with all of them, Deer Lake, too," he said.

According to Mark Grandstaff, the WDFW Regional Habitat Manager, the lakes will be lowered to capture ground water, reducing the need for diversions off the river.

Grandstaff said the river was dredged and diked, and it lost its connection to the flood plain. By reversing the trend the river will be able to utilize the flood plain, reducing high flows and erosion.

Flood plains store water in high flows, cooling and increasing summer flows, and providing for better habitat for fish, Grandstaff added.

Public input is an important component of identifying and developing projects, according to Kari Dingman, WDFW Assistant Manager, who was also at the meeting.

Dingman said that at another meeting held in Richland on April 20th members of the Columbia Basin Flycasters Club were lobbying for a fly angling-only lake, and there is a strong possibility for that.

The Wooten Wildlife Area FMP was developed as a cross-program effort to improve conditions within the Tucannon River Floodplain. Its goals are consistent with the WDFW mission, and 2011 to 2017 Strategic Plan, to complement ongoing habitat restoration efforts within the Tucannon River Basin, WDWF officials report.

To sign up for e-mail updates about the FMP, contact WDFW Assistant Manager Kari Dingman, at (509) 843-1530, or for comprehensive information about the FMP, and ongoing projects, go to the WDFW website at: wdfw.wa.gov/lands/wildlife areas/ wt wooten/floodplain management.php.