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As part of Napa County’s continuing efforts to address resource concerns in our watersheds, partners have been looking at stream crossings on County maintained roads. County staff have been looking for projects that would prevent large amounts of sediment from being deposited into our creeks, as well as projects that could improve the ability of our native fishes to make it into the farther reaches of their spawning habitat.
In Campbell Creek, there is a 6ft diameter culvert near the confluence with Campbell Creek and Dry Creek. The culvert was categorized as high priority during a 1998 stream inventory because it was expected to be a total barrier (impassable to all fish at all flows) due to excessive jump height into the culvert, inadequate jump pool depth, and high downstream water velocities during large storms.
Napa County Department of Public Works is working with Stantec Engineering to design a bottomless concrete arch culvert to replace the existing culvert. This upgrade will increase flow capacities and allow for better access to upstream habitats for steelhead trout. Public Works and Stantec are currently working on the design, review, permitting, and grant funding opportunities to implement the project, expected to be finished by summer of 2024. Because the existing culvert is undersized for peak flows from a 100-yr storm event, upgrading the crossing will also prevent roughly 1,150 cubic yards of sediment from falling into the stream and river systems if the stream crossing were to wash out.
Read the full article, including the history and timeline of the project, at the Napa RCD website.
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