The primary focus of this project is to increase the quality and quantity of juvenile summer/fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) rearing habitat needed from the late-winter through early-summer post-emergent/pre-migration period. Site specific project objectives were developed to addresses the primary limiting factors: Increase the quantity of secondary channel habitats for short-term rearing of summer/fall Chinook salmon, Increase habitat complexity in secondary channel habitats, Improve sediment sorting processes in secondary channels and on the floodplain. Post emergent and rearing life-stages of Okanogan River summer/fall chinook prefer to inhabit secure, low-velocity, off-channel areas where energetic demands are low and food availability is high. However, these types of habitat conditions are sparse throughout the river and identified as a high-priority for restoration in the Pharr Road site.

The project will consist of: creating a side channel inlet and enhancing the side channel geometry, large wood habitat structure at the side channel inlet, and revegetation.