WARREN SLOUGH RAIL GRADE REPAIRS BEGIN

Repairs to the Warren Slough railroad grade, delayed for years by regulatory hurdles and nearly derailed this spring by conflicting fish protection rules, are finally underway.

Work began Aug. 26 to fix the rock-and-earthen berm and install a new culvert that will help control flooding while allowing for the passage of young salmon. The project is slated for completion the week of Aug. 30.

Contractors on the project are Vinson Brothers Construction of Knappa and Nehalem Marine Manufacturing of Nehalem.

The berm was breached in a storm in November 2006. A section of rail line was washed out and several acres of adjacent pastureland left open to flooding, but until recently a thicket of overlapping agency rules has prevented a fix.

The latest obstacle came from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which recently objected to certain parts of a repair plan that was finally given the green light earlier this year by federal authorities.

Clatsop County has worked with landowners, state and federal agencies and other stakeholders since the breach to get the railroad grade repaired. The county has no direct jurisdiction over the rail line ? it is leased by Portland and Western Railroad from the Oregon Department of Transportation Rail Division, which owns the underlying right-of-way. But the regular flooding of the adjacent pastureland is jeopardizing the bridge over nearby Ziak-Gnat Creek county road.

Tidegates traditionally allowed a limited flow of water from Warren Slough under the rail line and into the pastureland. But since the breach, water pours in unimpeded during high tide, covering the entire area and at times sending water up to the edge of the pavement on Ziak-Gnat Creek Road.

Last March, after a lengthy approval process, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit to P&W Railroad to proceed with repairs to plug the breach. The project, to be funded jointly by the railroad and ODOT, was tentatively set to begin this August.

The permit includes a requirement from the National Marine Fisheries Service that P&W install a new six-foot-wide culvert with a fish-friendly tidegate under the railroad berm, in order to allow passage of juvenile salmon that have appeared in the flooded pastureland in the wake of the breach.

But the culvert and tidegate mandated by the national fisheries service don’t comply with new state fish-protection rules, according to ODFW ? the projected water velocities through the new culvert would be too high for the young fish, the agency said.

At a stakeholders meeting in early June convened by County Manager Duane Cole, frustration over the state’s last-minute objections was expressed by various parties: the county due to the damage the flooding is causing to the road and bridge; the Port of Astoria, which is eager to see the line repaired in order provide rail service to its newly acquired industrial space at Tongue Point in Astoria; and two of the owners of the affected pastureland, Gary Ziak and Theresa DeLorenzo, who say the flooding is ruining valuable habitat used by waterfowl, lizards and other wildlife.

But in July, representatives from ODFW and NMFS, as well as Sen. Betsy Johnson, met in Salem and reached agreement on a plan that will allow the project, with the NMFS-mandated culvert, to go forward this year as planned. The project will include a long-term monitoring plan and provisions to adjust the new tidegate as needed to control water flow.

“County Transportation and Development Services Director Ed Wegner played a key role in convening the agency parties to keep the project on track,” Cole said. “While the project permit is held by the railroad and ODOT Rail, it is important to the county to get the breach fixed in order to protect Ziak-Gnat Creek Road.”

Cole also thanked the neighboring property owners for their patience. “They have waited too long for the agencies to resolve this very simple problem.”