Roaring Creek is a critical perennial tributary in the Lower Entiat River, Upper Columbia Sub-Basin, in Washington. Trout Unlimited aims to improve production of listed steelhead and bull trout in the Entiat basin, and the Roaring Creek Project has multiple objectives to further this goal.
Roaring Creek is currently one of the few productive tributaries of the Entiat River for anadromous fish. Steelhead spawning surveys in Roaring Creek since 2001 show a growing trend of use by Upper Columbia River steelhead stock, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The project will more than double late season flows in Roaring Creek, restore a barrier-free creek by eliminating two diversions, and reduce water temperatures. This flow restoration proposal has the potential to add significantly to the steelhead production because of the magnitude of flow restoration and the removal of fish passage obstructions placed in the stream nearly 100 years ago. The steelhead redd count in 2012 (147) is nearly double that in the lower Entiat and can represent up to 20% of the count in the entire Entiat watershed. Flow restoration in this project will contribute up to 194% increase in late season flows, significantly improving fish habitat.
The project has eliminated 2 push-up dams opening approximate 1.5 miles of stream habitat, drastically improved irrigation delivery efficiency for local land owners, and returned Roaring Creek to its natural hydrograph. The components to the project include consolidating the Roaring Creek water rights to create the Roaring Creek Water Users Association, changing the point of diversion for the primary water users (Entiat Valley Orchards) from Roaring Creek to an existing diversion on the mainstem Entiat River and installing a state of the art delivery system for the irrigators in the area.