Community Environment Government

Nonprofit identifies hundreds of potential fish passage barriers on Gig Harbor Peninsula

For nearly four years, Gig Harbor officials have been working toward replacing a partially impassible culvert along North Creek. The culvert is under the intersection of Austin Street and Harborview Drive, not far from the Harbor History Museum.

A 6-foot by 6-foot, 146-foot long, concrete culvert installed in the 1940s acts as a partial barrier to adult fish. It completely blocks juveniles from accessing habitat farther up the stream, also known as Donkey Creek. Plans to replace the barrier with a fully passable bridge and restore the stream to near-natural condition began in 2022, and was estimated a year later to cost $9 million.

The barrier is only the tip of the iceberg. Gig Harbor’s ecosystem, despite being relatively healthy, is heavily fragmented. Hundreds of barriers dot the landscape, spanning both private and public lands. Many cut off upstream habitat for salmon and trout.

“It’s kind of overwhelming in Gig Harbor,” said Aaron Jorgenson, a biologist and GIS specialist for the Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest. “There’s a lot of opportunity to restore fish passage.”

The box culvert is at the northwest corner of Donkey Creek Park. Photo by Vince Dice

Nonprofit work identifies more barriers

Jorgenson, who was raised in Gig Harbor, has spent three seasons doing water typing on the Gig Harbor Peninsula. That involves taking an inventory of barriers and labeling streams as either F, for fish-bearing, or N, for non-fishbearing. In doing so, he and the conservancy hope to verify or correct state maps, which often mislabeled streams and left them with fewer protections than they are entitled to. 

A May 2025 report prepared for the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation and conducted by the Wild Fish Conservancy identified at least 378 in-stream structures on the Gig Harbor Peninsula. A majority, 241, were on private property, including 150 that were detected for the first time.  

Not all of those in-stream barriers are created equal. Some block more habitat, while others may not block fish at all. The biggest improvement opportunity for fish is on McCormick Creek, according to a 2020 assessment by the conservancy, where a culvert under a private driveway blocks almost five miles of fish habitat. Other high-priority projects are in Purdy, Garr, Nelyaly and Artondale creeks. 

A map of possible fish passage barriers from the Wild Fish Conservancy.

Gig Harbor looks to state for funding

Jeff Langhelm, Gig Harbor’s public works director, said the city is attempting to determine exactly how many fish passage barriers exist within city limits. The city already identified at least half a dozen it would like to rectify, each likely costing millions.

That is why the city hopes the state could offer some financial relief. The city’s annual list of legislative priorities includes a request for funding to support fish passage work.

Funding for culvert removals this year, however, are likely a pipe dream. Washington legislators enter the 2026 legislative session with a bleak outlook. Legislators will likely find no money to fund additional projects as they patch an estimated $2.3 budget shortfall in its 2026-2027 biennium budget and a projected $4.3 billion shortfall through 2029.

“By that nature those are very expensive projects,” Langhelm said. “The reason the city is asking for this as a legislative priority is to support the funding that’s necessary to pay for these projects.”

Federal injunction pushes state to remove barriers

The efforts in Gig Harbor are happening as the Washington State Department of Transportation works to remove problematic culverts that inhibit fish passage.

In 2013, a court ordered the state to expedite removing barriers that block or inhibit fish passage. That list includes at least eight barriers within Gig Harbor and additional blocked sites near Purdy.

That injunction stems from a decades-long legal saga over tribal treaty rights. A group of 21 Washington tribes sued the state in 2001, asking a U.S. District Court to find that the state had a treaty obligation to preserve salmon and steelhead trout runs. The litigants included the Puyallup Tribe, whose ancestral lands include Gig Harbor. The injunction followed in 2013.

According to its website, the Washington State Department of Transportation says it has corrected more than 176 injunction barriers culverts as of June. The work improved access to 655 miles of blocked salmon and steelhead habitat. Yet, the agency said in 2024 it does not expect to remove all problematic barriers by the 2030 deadline.

Representatives for WSDOT and the Puyallup Tribe did not return requests for comment.

City removing barriers for same reasons as state

Langhelm said the city is replacing culverts for many of the same reasons as the state. But he notes the federal injunction only applies to the state.

“The legal obligations apply to the state Department of Transportation and are not necessarily binding to the city,” he said. “However, the city recognizes the reasoning behind the court decision and is volunteering to comply with a higher standard in order to support the sustainability of our environment and protect what makes our city beautiful.”