SEATTLE – In an effort to help protect the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, awarded a contract to repair a sand barrier dune in Willapa Bay near the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation. The contract was awarded to Manson Construction Corp of Seattle, Washington.
Construction is scheduled to kick off in the summer of 2018 on a $19.9 million federally-funded dune repair project that provides coastal storm damage protection. In addition, the project will maintain habitat for the Pacific Coast western snowy plover and streaked horned lark, two bird species federally listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened.
“Three major storms between December 2015 and October 2016 completely destroyed the northern portion of the sand spit and significantly eroded the remaining portion of the dune, threatening the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation, including culturally and ecologically significant wetland areas,” said Daryl Downing, Corps’ project manager for the repair effort.
Repair work includes dredging approximately 750,000 cubic yards of sand from a borrow site providing materials to rebuild the 12,500 foot-long protective berm.
The Corps consulted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Historic Preservation Office, and the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe.
Release no. 18-010