Campen Creek Reconnection Project

Reconnecting Campen Creek to its floodplain and restoring wetlands to improve water quality and habitat for salmon, steelhead and other wildlife

project logo with a bridge and a salmon swimming underneath

The Campen Creek Reconnection Project is a 9-acre urban restoration initiative located within Mable Kerr Park - a popular urban natural area in Washougal, Washington. The project, which is co-led by the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and the City of Washougal, aims to enhance habitats both within the park and downstream in the recently restored Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, by re-establishing the natural connection between Campen Creek and its floodplain. To accomplish this, the project will replace the current, artificial, and degraded single creek channel with a natural floodplain, including wetlands, a meandering creek channel, wood habitat structures, and native riparian plantings. The project will also improve walking paths and public safety for park visitors.

Campen Creek Reconnection Project design map

The Campen Creek Reconnection Project conceptual design map. Click to see a larger version.

Floodplain reconnection benefits for fish and wildlife:

A natural floodplain will provide excellent spawning and rearing habitat for salmon, steelhead, and lamprey in Campen Creek.
Reconnecting the floodplain increases the landscape’s capacity to absorb and store water during flood events. This reduces erosion and flood risk in the rainy season while increasing the supply of cool, clean water in the creek during dry summer months.
Campen Creek flows into Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge’s Gibbons Creek and its reconnected floodplain, which is used as rearing habitat by juvenile salmonids from throughout the Columbia River basin. Therefore, this project not only benefits salmon in Campen Creek, but salmon from throughout the Columbia River basin.

Currently, Campen Creek is drastically affected by high flow events that cause erosion, water quality issues, and flooding.

Current habitat conditions along Campen Creek are poor. Campen Creek lacks streamside plants to facilitate cold and clean water for salmon and reduce erosion.

The Campen Creek Reconnection Project has direct and immediate benefits for people:

The project will improve public safety by removing approximately 80 hazardous trees, primarily dead or dying alders, to prevent potential injuries to park visitors. These trees, along with damaged and hazard trees donated by Orchard Hills Golf & Country Club will be repurposed for floodplain restoration along Campen Creek.
The popular walking path along Campen Creek will be extended and a new, longer bridge will be installed over Campen Creek to facilitate floodplain restoration and bring people closer to nature.
Opportunities to observe birds, salmon, and other wildlife will increase as these species thrive in the high-quality habitat created by the project.

a group of people in safety vests and hard hats examine a map

At a tour of the project site participants wore hard hats due to the safety risk from hazard trees.

The Campen Creek Reconnection Project is slated to break ground in the summer of 2025 and the major construction will be completed in approximately two months. Community members will be invited to assist with restoration efforts at volunteer planting events in late 2025 or early 2026. Professional foresters will continue to work on the site planting native trees and shrubs for several more years.

The Campen Creek Reconnection Project is one of two large-scale water quality projects underway in Washougal. The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, City of Washougal, and the Washougal School District are also starting work on the Campen Creek Stormwater Improvement Project. This project aims to address an issue at Washougal High School and surrounding city streets where stormwater from nearly 9 acres of impervious surface discharges through a pipe, mostly untreated, directly into Campen Creek above Mable Kerr Park.

The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership is managing the restoration project, and the City of Washougal will remain the landowner and site manager of Mable Kerr Park. The Campen Creek Reconnection Project is funded by the Estuary Partnership’s National Estuary Program Bipartisan Infrastructure Law award, the Washington Department of Ecology, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.