The Cemetery Creek and Salmon Park habitat restoration projects are located at the confluence of Cemetery Creek and Whatcom Creek. The Salmon Park project covers over 100 meters of the Whatcom Creek streambank to the north, while Cemetery Creek encompasses approximately 75 meters along the south bank of Whatcom Creek and over 400 meters along the east and west forks of Cemetery Creek.
These projects were implemented to mitigate damages following the Olympic Pipeline Explosion along Whatcom Creek in 1999. During this event, the fishery and aquatic resources of Whatcom Creek were severely impacted. The goals for rehabilitation and enhancement center on mitigating damages by creating and improving salmonid habitat associated with Whatcom Creek.
Habitat objectives implemented in the projects include:
Salmon Park restoration site immediately following construction (left) and
after replanting (right)
Cemetery Creek channel before (left) and after reconstruction (right).
Restoration created rearing pools for juvenile salmon and increased habitat
complexity and channel diversity.
Restoration Site Monitoring
The Settlement Agreement for the Whatcom Creek Pipeline incident also provided funding for long-term monitoring of the restoration sites. Monitoring for the Cemetery Creek and Salmon Park projects focuses on seven elements:
