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By Michele Smith
The Times 

Rainbow Lake Construction to Begin in June

Last day for fishing in lake, May 31

 

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Rainbow Lake outline

WALLA WALLA-Last week officials with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife provided the public with progress updates regarding implementation actions for the W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area Floodplain Management Plan. The FMP includes mitigation and reconstruction of Rainbow Lake, which will begin on May 30, when drawdown begins, and will end in September early October.

The Rainbow Lake Campground will be unavailable from July through September, and the Deer Lake access road will be closed during construction, WDFW officials said.

The goal for Rainbow Lake is to increase its length and volume, expand it to the south, reduce the water temperature and improve water quality, increase its stocking capacity, provide for angler access, improve and expand day use, improve dam safety, and reduce seepage.

This year's actions are part of a larger plan to improve the lake and campgrounds and remove a portion of the lake out of the Tucannon River floodplain.

Tracy Drury, the consulting team project manager and principal engineer for Anchor QEA, said the designs for dredging Rainbow Lake have been completed, and the project has been sent out to bid.

"There have been a couple of hiccups, but we are on the home stretch," Drury said.

Dredging, deepening, and expanding the lake, and installing a new sediment basin, is expected to be accomplished in 2017, Drury said.

In 2018, the dam will be repaired and relocated and wetland mitigation and recreation improvements can begin, said Drury.

Drury said $1.6 million has been set aside from the state capital budget for the project, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has allocated a half-million dollars to the project. An additional $1 million from anticipated biennium funding for 2017-19, will support work in 2018, he said.

There are eight man-made lakes, built in the 1950s, and all but two constrict the flood plain. Six of them violate the state dam safety regulations, and sedimentation is a problem.

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

When the Tucannon River was dredged and diked, it lost its connection to the flood plain. By reversing the trend the river will be able to utilize the floodplain, reducing high flows and erosion. Floodplains store water in high flows, cooling and increasing summer flows, and provide for better fish habitat, Grandstaff said.

Ben Floyd, also with Anchor QEA, said other FMP projects will improve fish habitat in the Tucannon River as well.

For instance, another Large Wood project is scheduled to take place this summer, between the Camp Wooten Bridge and Big Four Lake, Floyd said.

Burying the power line between the Tucannon Fish Hatchery and Camp Wooten, and performing public outreach are also components of the FMP, Floyd said.

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The $20 million FMP complements ongoing habitat restoration efforts to recover spring Chinook salmon, and other Endangered Species Act-listed fish species within the Tucannon River Basin, according to WDFW officials.

As part of its public outreach the WFDW has created a questionnaire for the public about their recreation experiences in the W. T. Wooten Wildlife Area. Questionnaires can be filled out at The Last Resort on Tucannon Road, said Kari Dingman, WDFW Assistant Manager.

To sign up for e-mail updates about the FMP, contact Dingman at: (509) 843-1530 or by email at: Kari.Dingman@dfw.wa.gov

For comprehensive information about the FMP, and ongoing projects, go to the WDFW website at: wdfw.wa.gov/lands/wildlife_areas/wt_wooten/

 

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