Lower sutton creek aquatic organism passage project will replace two undersized and poorly functioning culverts in lower sutton creek in neskowin oregon with two aquatic organism passage designed…

On July 1, 2026, the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service awarded $1.12 million to the Nestucca, Neskowin and Sand Lake Watersheds Council under the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) program (CFDA 15.686) for the Lower Sutton Creek Aquatic Organism Passage Project. The primary deliverable is the replacement of two undersized and poorly functioning culverts on Lower Sutton Creek in Neskowin, Oregon with two aquatic organism passage (AOP) designed concrete box culverts featuring full stream simulation. The project is designed to provide full volitional passage for endangered Oregon coastal coho salmon, winter steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout, and Pacific lamprey while improving natural stream function and mitigating flood risks in the downstream residential neighborhood.

The project addresses a documented conservation need identified in the 2022 Regional Implementation Plan for the Oregon Coast Regional Management Units and complements an upstream culvert replacement project on Sutton Creek scheduled for completion in 2025. The work is anticipated to be completed by September 15, 2026. As a Salmon Superhighway partner organization, the Council will coordinate implementation activities that restore aquatic connectivity at two stream crossings on Proposal Rock Loop and support regional lamprey conservation and distribution mapping efforts.

Lower sutton creek aquatic organism passage project will replace two undersized and poorly functioning culverts in lower sutton creek in neskowin oregon with two aquatic organism passage designed AOP concrete box culvert structures that include full stream simulation. The existing culverts are partial barriers to passage of ESA listed oregon coastal coho salmon winter steelhead coastal cutthroat trout and pacific lamprey chum salmon were historically present. Lamprey have been observed in sutton creek anecdotally and biologists are eager to confirm their presence and update distribution maps odfws oregon fish habitat distribution and barriers and pacific lamprey known observations and distribution map. The project reach is just upstream of a known current lamprey distribution zone in neskowin creek. The project will provide full volitional passage for these species improve natural stream function improve the passage of high flows in a residential neighborhood in through which the stream flows. These culverts have been largely responsible for several flood events experienced by homeowners in the last 3 decades in this neighborhood. This project will complement one being implemented in 2025 to replace a similar culvert further upstream on sutton creek in this case with an AOP designed concrete bridge. Passage improvement is identified as an important need for lamprey conservation in the 2022 regional implementation plan for the oregon coast regional management units north coast subregion and this project is included in the restoration actions listed in the plan under the rubric of salmon superhwy project the council is a salmon superhwy partner organization. The primary goal of this project on lower sutton creek is to improve aquatic organism passage at the two stream crossings of proposal rock loop. The objective of this project is to replace the two culverts that serve as passage barriers and provide full volitional passage through new AOP designed concrete box culverts for all native migratory fish in lower sutton creek. This project is designed to meet all fish passage requirements and was designed using guidance from barriers to adult pacific lamprey at road crossings guidelines for evaluating and providing passage by the lamprey technical workgroup 2020 and guidelines for salmonid passage at stream crossings in oregon washington and idaho by nmfs.