Local News

DNR funding to remove old cars from Methow River

Nov 11, 2014

Dozens of old cars used to armor the banks of the Methow River will be removed by the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation with funding from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Jessica Goldberg with the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation said their contractor will remove the cars either late this fall or early next spring, depending on when winter weather arrives in the Methow Valley. The foundation must also acquire state and federal permits to work in the river.

DNR is providing $58,000 from a legislative appropriation targeted at removing large debris from Washington’s state-owned waterways. The salmon foundation will enlist a contractor to remove the cars from some 900 feet of the Methow River bank with a crane.

The mostly mid-century rusting cars were placed to shore up the bank after floods stripped its vegetation in the middle of last century. The foundation’s contractor will use a crane to remove the cars – known as “Detroit Riprap” – from the now-vegetated river bank.

“The car bodies impede the Methow River’s natural processes that create habitat important for salmon and a range of other aquatic species,” said Allen Lebovitz, aquatic habitat restoration specialist for DNR.

The Middle Reach of the Methow River is home to a number of species listed on the federal Endangered Species Act, including Upper Columbia River spring chinook, Upper Columbia River steelhead and bull trout.

Removal of the “riprap” is part of a larger effort to ensure the health of the Methow River.

“People here are really proud of their river,” said Goldberg. “When we had floods this summer, the community really came together and addressed it with immediate support.”

Following the Carlton Complex fires, heavy rains washed debris into the river. DNR paid disposal costs and helped organize volunteers who, led by the salmon foundation, removed more than 27,000 pounds of that debris from the river in October.

Some of the cars removed from the riverbank will be used by the Methow Arts Alliance for metal sculptures, Goldberg said.