ENUMCLAW, Wash. — Renee Bushnell has lived in Enumclaw since 1990 and was surprised to find so many dead fish in a ditch near Southeast 432nd Street.
"I have never seen anything like this, all these dead fish," she told KING 5 as she walked down the road on Nov. 21.
"There's dozens, look at it," she added.
The fish Bushnell was talking about are chum salmon, and experts believe it's actually a good sign.
King County replaced two old, narrow pipes under Southeast 432nd Street with a box culvert. Another small pipe parallel to the road was also replaced with a larger box culvert. The goal of the project was to reduce flooding and improve fish passage.
The pipes were too small for the volume of water that passes through. As a result, the water was pushed through too fast, making it difficult for fish to swim. The water inside the former pipes was also too shallow in the stream bed for fish to swim upstream.
The new box culverts accommodate a larger volume of water and are designed to simulate a natural stream and allow for a more consistent, slower flow of water.
It's an example of how a culvert project like this is supposed to work, said Evan Lewis, King County's Fish Passage Restoration Program manager. The ditch Bushnell found the dead salmon is spring fed and salmon bearing.
"So, now that it's more of a natural stream, salmon can swim upstream and access that habitat," Lewis said, adding they will die – like all Pacific salmon – after laying their eggs.
Chase Gunnell, spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, confirmed they were chum salmon, which usually return to Puget Sound rivers and creeks in the fall – typically in November. Based on photos he looked at, the chum appear to have spawned successfully, he told KING 5.
Gunnell said Fish & Wildlife has documented chum spawning successfully in creeks smaller than the one in Enumclaw.