Maplewood Creek Fish Channel

"Protecting Nature at a Public Golf Course"

What's the best way to balance the needs of a fish habitat and a public golf course?

That's been MWH’s key objective on the Maplewood Public Golf Course in Washington State (United States). Working closely with regulatory agencies and golf course officials, our engineers designed a 1,400-foot-long fish channel that traverses this popular golf course. It allows fish to travel to the creek's headwaters and provides a spawning and overwintering habitat for salmons.

How it Works

Beginning at a fishladder constructed more than a decade ago at the Cedar River, the new fish channel meanders through the golf course until it connects with the old creek channel at the flow splitter structure.

The flow splitter structure allows normal flows in the new channel via a two-step fish ladder. This diverts high flows over a low-head diversion dam into the old channel. This helps to reduce flooding and improve water quality.

Approximately 400 feet upstream, the old channel connects to a new, eleven-step fishladder at the sedimentation basis. The vegetation required a balance between the fish habitat and a professionally landscaped golf course. This stream habitat features:

• Log-drop structures in high gradient reaches
• Boulder/cobble wing deflectors
• Habitat root logs and woody debris
• Boulder clusters
• Streambank planting
• Streambed gravel for spawning.

In addition to the design tasks, MWH also prepared the permit documentation and handled the cost estimating and construction services.