East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project

• Lewisville Park - The boat ramp at Lewisville Park is open. Beginning April 15, 2025, all watercraft entering the East Fork Lewis River must exit the river at or before Daybreak Regional Park. The boat ramp at Daybreak Park is open for take outs only.
• Daybreak Park Boat Ramp -  Beginning April 15, 2025, the boat ramp at Daybreak Park is open for take outs only.  Launching at Daybreak is prohibited.
• Lower Daybreak Park - Restoration along the trail at Lower Daybreak Regional Park is anticipated to begin in 2026. The park will remain open to the public in 2025.
• County Yard - Access to the river from the county yard is restricted.
• East Fork Lewis River Greenway Trail/Danger Park - Access to the river and to Danger Park/East Fork Lewis River Greenway Trail is prohibited.
• Bjur Road - access to the river from the Bjur Road gate area is restricted.
• Cemetery Bend - access to this fishing/recreation area is restricted.

• A portion of Daybreak Trail and a utility pole will be relocated farther away from the river to reduce erosion risks.  
• A floodplain bench will be graded down along the riverbank to increase flood storage in the area and create additional floodplain habitat.
• Wood structures will be installed along the bank to help reduce erosion risk.
• Native trees and shrubs will be planted to stabilize the eroding shoreline and provide wildlife habitat.  

• A portion of the County Yard is currently within the 100-year floodplain, this area will be relocated to higher ground next to the road.  
• The southern portion of the County Yard will be restored to floodplain habitat, creating additional flood storage and habitat for salmon during high flows.  

• An abandoned gravel pit will be filled to create functional floodplain habitat that will provide off-channel areas for juvenile salmonids to rest during high flows.  
• A portion of the side-channel to the south of the abandoned gravel pit, and in the area around the confluence of the East Fork Lewis River, will be improved to provide greater habitat quality and quantity.  

Over 3,000 feet of new channels will be created downstream of Danger Park on the Eastern Floodplain. Habitat features will be installed in the channels and the new channels will provide additional pathways for flows compared to existing conditions.    

• The floodplain adjacent to the river will be re-graded and the cobbles and dirt will be used to fill the Ridgefield Pits and reconstruct a multi-channel system through this river reach. This will help reconnect the river to the floodplain during high flow events.  
• Three new channels will be constructed to restore the multi-channel network that existed prior to development in the valley. These channels will bring additional flow to the floodplain, helping to recharge groundwater, provide cool water for salmonids during warm summer months, and reconnect the existing wetlands to the river.
• Large wood structures will be placed along the riverbanks and instream to reduce erosion potential and provide resting places for migrating juvenile salmon.  
• Native trees and shrubs will be installed to increase the riparian buffer and help shade the small side channels, reducing the high temperature impacts.  

• The channel connecting Dyer Creek to the East Fork Lewis River will be re-graded to correct the water depth and high flow velocity issues that prevent juvenile salmon from accessing Dyer Creek.  This action will reestablish the connection between Dyer Creek to the East Fork Lewis River that was severed in the 1970s.
• A small, undersized culvert will be removed and replaced with a larger box culvert that, and two other culverts that are not functioning properly will be removed, to allow fish passage between two sections of Dyer Creek.   

More than 100 people gathered at the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project site to celebrate the beginning of construction. The event included remarks from Clark County Councilor Sue Marshall, Washington State Representative Peter Abbarno, Kevin Tapani, co-owner of Tapani Inc., and Elaine Placido, Executive Director of the Estuary Partnership. Project tours were provided to celebration attendees by Estuary Partnership staff. 

Before the restoration work could begin, the fish and wildlife within the construction area had to be rescued and safely relocated to suitable nearby habitat. The rescue and relocation efforts were a massive undertaking involving diving, snorkeling, netting, and low-grade electro-shocking, plus a lot of digging by hand! 
More than 81,000 juvenile lamprey, 45,000 freshwater mussels, 46,000 fish (including juvenile salmon, native largescale suckers, and sculpin), and more than 50 native painted turtles were relocated from within the project boundary. The rescue efforts yielded a significant number of warmer-water fish who prey on juvenile salmon and thrive in the pond-like conditions of the river that the project aims to eliminate.

Over 2,000 volunteer hours were logged during the fish, lamprey, mussel, and painted turtle relocation efforts that preceded in-water construction in each pit! If you missed out on the fun, join the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project mailing list to learn about opportunities during Year 2 construction.

A temporary diversion dam (coffer dam) was installed at the end of June to divert the mainstem of the East Fork Lewis River into a newly constructed side channel and around the Ridgefield Pits that were the focus of Year 1 restoration activities. With the river flowing around the project site, construction crews began pumping water from the pits so they could be filled and restored. Watch a timelapse video of the diversion dam being constructed to divert the mainstem of the East Fork Lewis River. 

photo credit for the top left and bottom image: Kurt  Cichosz

After the diversion dam redirected the river, crews got to work filling four former gravel pits, reconnecting the area to its former floodplain, and recreating the historically braided river system by building side channels, alcoves, and wetland habitat. 

The top left image is of the East Fork Lewis River Ridgefield Pits area prior to floodplain reconnection in June 2025 (the bridge was installed to provide temporary access for construction workers); the top right image is the project site in August 2025, the river is diverted to four former gravel pits are filled; the bottom image is from November 2024 after diversion dam was removed and the river began flowing through its newly restored, braided floodplain. The former gravel pits on the right side of the image will be restored during Year 2 construction.  

Watch a video flyover of the newly restored and reconnected floodplain. 

Dyer Creek flows into the East Fork Lewis River just below the Ridgefield Pits stretch of the river. A culvert installed under a road blocked fish passage along Dyer Creek. During the first year of the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project construction, the 2’ culvert was removed and a with a 6x10’ box culvert was installed. This action, along with the removal of a berm between Dyer Creek and the East Fork Lewis River, restored fish access to more than 27 acres of wetland habitat and over a mile of upstream spawning and rearing habitat along Dyer Creek.

More than 500 large woody debris structures were installed during Year 1 construction. Large woody debris structures create salmon habitat, stabilize riverbanks and floodplain, and help slow and direct the flow of water across the landscape.

Approximately 90% of the timber sourced by Estuary Partnership for the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project will either be salvaged from on site or procured from sustainable timber operations. In addition to Clark County, the Estuary Partnership purchased timber from properties managed for habitat restoration (removing Douglas-firs to restore oak savannah habitat) and from privately owned conservation-oriented forestlands. 

Watch a short video to learn how timber was harvested from Spud Mountain and used to restore the East Fork Lewis River. 

A portion of a Clark County maintenance yard was relocated out of the 100-year floodplain to higher ground as part of the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project. As a result of the relocation, the flood risk to the maintenance yard decreased and the access for large trucks was improved.

The former maintenance yard was restored to floodplain habitat. The photo series below (clockwise from top left) shows the maintenance yard before construction; the next photo shows the new location closer to the road under construction; the photo on the bottom right shows the fully relocated maintenance yard; and the photo on the bottom left shows the former maintenance yard site restored to floodplain habitat. 

Salmon, mussels, painted turtles, and beavers have returned to this stretchof the East Fork Lewis River at the end of the Year 1 construction. 

Juvenile salmon that are raised on a floodplain are able to find rich food sources - insects and other aquatic organisms – which help them grow quickly. When water connects the floodplain to the river, trees and shrubs along the floodplain provide great hiding places for juvenile salmon, helping to reduce predation by larger fish.  Click here to read a study on juvenile salmon and floodplain restoration conducted by the University of California Davis.  

Locally, a study conducted downstream of the project area on the East Fork Lewis River at the LaCenter Bottoms demonstrated that floodplain wetland habitat on the river were some of the most productive habitat for juvenile coho and Chinook salmon in the region. The study of this highly productive area helped to inform the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project’s design. 

Reconnecting the East Fork Lewis River to its historic floodplain will lower the intensity of flood events and harmful erosion by giving the river more room to expand and adjust naturally. Historically, East Fork Lewis River within the project area was a wide, complex, multi-threaded system. Over the past century, the river's historic path has been reduced to a simplified single channel. Without the natural ability to expand onto its historic floodplain, the river moves downstream at an extremely high velocity, eroding riverbanks and increasing flood risk.  

The project will also relocate the county maintenance yard located on NE 269th Street out of the 100-year floodplain and move the Daybreak Trail away from a rapidly eroding riverbank, while using natural solutions to reduce erosion. 

Restoring the East Fork Lewis River's connection to its historic floodplain allows floodwaters to soak into the ground, recharging groundwater reserves. This cold groundwater is released back into the river during summer months when water levels in the river are low and surface water temperatures are higher, thus helping to alleviate warm water conditions that are harmful to salmon and steelhead. 

The East Fork Lewis River is well known for its world class fishing, boating, and hiking. The Clark County Legacy Lands program recognizes the incredible the East Fork Lewis River as a vital location for recreation and public access. To preserve public access to the river in perpetuity, Clark County has acquired a significant amount of land adjacent to the East Fork Lewis River. See map of county-owned properties along the East Fork Lewis River. These acquisitions, and the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project, are essential steps towards a future East Fork Lewis River Greenway Trail. In the short term, the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project is moving the popular walking trail along the river at Daybreak Park away from the river (erosion is threatening the safety of the trail). 

The East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project is a $23.5 million restoration project. Funding for this project was awarded by separate state and federal agencies through highly competitive processes. Without such a robust, compelling, and community-supported project, these grants would have gone elsewhere in the state or nation. The Estuary Partnership selected Battle Ground-based Tapani Inc. to construct the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project.  The construction contract with Tapani Inc. represents 46% of the project's total budget. 

In a press release announcing the award, Brandon Farmer, a Senior Project Manager at Tapani Inc., had this to say:

“As a family-owned business rooted in Battle Ground, Tapani is excited to contribute to a project that strengthens both the community and environment in Clark County. The East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project will provide jobs for upwards of 35 people in our highly skilled workforce. Our crews know this river well—it’s where our families fish, swim, and explore. Partnering with the Estuary Partnership is a meaningful opportunity to restore and enhance it for future generations,” stated Brandon Farmer Senior Project Manager at Tapani.