Crews begin preliminary work on $1.2M Bateman Island causeway removal

Crews from Pipkin Inc. of East Wenatchee have started preliminary work to take out Bateman Island’s 500-foot long and 40-foot wide causeway.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $1.2 million contract, in partnership with other agencies, to the firm.

Excavation work of the causeway is projected to begin on Jan. 5, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers press release.

The public is no longer able to walk across the causeway to reach the island on the Columbia River at the mouth of the Yakima River.

The island at the center of the Tri-Cities has a 2.8-mile trail and is popular for fishing, walking, mountain biking and bird watching.

The causeway, built in the 1940s, allowed hikers easy access to the island at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia rivers, but it also restricts the water flow near the Richland Wye, raising water temperatures and degrading the river’s water quality.

The Army Corps of Engineers is having the causeway demolished to improve habitat for salmon.

As water backs up on the south and west side of Bateman Island behind the causeway, summer water temperatures can be as high as 86 degrees for sustained periods and 90 degrees at times.

The warm water creates ideal conditions for non-native fish, such as smallmouth bass, that prey with voracious appetites on young salmon migrating to the ocean in the spring.

It also promotes algal blooms and provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

It may also prevent salmon returning from the ocean from entering the warmer Yakima River to spawn.