Addressing a Critical Issue for Fish Migration

Across Oregon, thousands of culverts block fish migration, creating significant obstacles for species like salmon, trout, and Pacific lamprey. Many of these outdated culverts create high water velocities, shallow depths, and steep drop-offs, making it nearly impossible for fish to move upstream to their spawning habitats.

Oregon has made great strides in fish passage restoration, but one of the biggest challenges remains: cost. Replacing a culvert with a bridge or an open-bottom structure often costs millions of dollars, making it financially impossible to restore all blocked waterways.

As a fisheries biologist with over 30 years of experience, I have seen firsthand how cost-effective solutions can make an immediate impact. This is why I am submitting comments to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Fish Passage Task Force, advocating for the implementation of Flexi Baffles—a proven, affordable alternative for fish passage restoration.

What Are Flexi Baffles?

Flexi Baffles are an innovative solution designed to improve fish passage through culverts by reducing water velocity and increasing depth. Unlike traditional rigid baffles (which are often clogged with debris), Flexi Baffles bend under high flow conditions, allowing debris to pass while maintaining a series of pools and steps that help fish migrate upstream.

✅ Reduces water velocity for easier fish passage
✅ Increases water depth in culverts
✅ Does not clog with debris like solid baffles
✅ Low-cost alternative to culvert replacement
✅ Can be installed quickly with minimal maintenance

Successful Implementations of Flexi Baffles

Flexi Baffles have been successfully installed in multiple locations across North America, New Zealand, and Europe, improving fish passage for a variety of species.

Schoenbar Creek, Ketchikan, Alaska

• A 475-foot culvert was resurfaced with concrete and retrofitted with 81 Flexi Baffles, restoring fish passage.
• Material cost: $35,000—a fraction of full replacement costs.

Bon Accord Creek, Surrey, BC

• A 500-foot-long concrete channel, previously impassable for 70 years, was restored using 60 Flexi Baffles, reopening 2.5 km of upstream habitat.
• Material cost: $18,700, installed in just four days.

Reservoir Creek, Nelson, New Zealand

• A 136-meter culvert was retrofitted with Flexi Baffles, allowing inanga and redfin bully to pass upstream for the first time.

Comparing Costs: Flexi Baffles vs. Culvert Replacement

One of the biggest barriers to fish passage restoration is the high cost of culvert replacement. A typical culvert replacement project can cost anywhere from $1 million to $20 million, depending on location, permitting, and infrastructure needs.

Real-World Cost Comparisons:

💰 In both cases, Flexi Baffles saved over 99% of the cost compared to full culvert replacement!

Why Oregon Needs to Act Now

According to the National Aquatic Barrier Inventory, there are over 775,000 road-related aquatic barriers in the Pacific Northwest, with tens of thousands of culverts restricting fish migration in Oregon alone.

Yet, fewer than 0.5% of these barriers have been removed or mitigated due to funding limitations and infrastructure constraints.

We need cost-effective, practical solutions that can be deployed quickly. Flexi Baffles provide exactly that.

My Recommendations to the ODFW Fish Passage Task Force

I am urging the ODFW Fish Passage Task Force to:

1️⃣ Pilot Flexi Baffle installations in high-priority culverts across Oregon.
2️⃣ Incorporate Flexi Baffles into Oregon’s fish passage guidelines as a cost-effective alternative to full culvert replacement.
3️⃣ Work with municipalities and transportation agencies to integrate low-cost fish passage retrofits into infrastructure planning.

By taking proactive steps now, we can restore critical fish migration pathways, support Oregon’s salmon and lamprey recovery efforts, and make fiscally responsible investments in our aquatic ecosystems.

Join the Conversation!

I invite fellow biologists, conservationists, policymakers, and anyone passionate about fish passage solutions to join this discussion. Let’s work together to implement cost-effective strategies that truly make a difference.

👉 Have experience with fish passage restoration? Leave a comment below!
👉 Interested in learning more about Flexi Baffles? Let’s connect!

#FishPassage #SustainableConservation #FlexiBaffle #ODFW #CulvertRetrofit #SalmonRecovery #AquaticOrganismPassage

Embarking on a project that spans over three decades in my career as a fisheries biologist, I recently experienced one of the most gratifying accomplishments of my journey. After almost 70 years, coho salmon have finally regained access to their spawning habitat in Bon Accord Creek, Surrey, British Columbia.

This achievement was no small feat. Nearly seven decades ago, a railroad company redirected Bon Accord Creek through a 500-foot-long concrete flume, creating a barrier that prevented coho salmon from reaching approximately 2.5 kilometers of vital spawning grounds. Despite commendable efforts by the City of Surrey to enhance upstream salmon habitats, the costs estimated to remove the concrete flume and stabilize the banks were staggering, totaling in the millions of dollars. These costs hindered progress and obstructed the salmon’s migratory path.

To address this challenge, we collaborated closely with the City’s environmental staff, evaluating various solutions. The breakthrough came with the innovative Flexi Baffle system. Working alongside a dedicated group of student volunteers, we strategically installed sixty 2-meter-long Flexi Baffles at intervals along the length of the flume. This installation marked a milestone as the largest of its kind in North America.

The impact was immediate and exhilarating! Following the installation and the onset of significant November rainfall, an adult coho salmon was sighted navigating the native channel above the flume. This marked a monumental success and a testament to the effectiveness of our solution.

To celebrate this milestone, the City held a dedication ceremony on November 24th. The presence and support of Surrey’s Mayor, Council Members, and several Legislative Assembly Ministers underscored the significance of this achievement. The project received well-deserved attention in various newspapers and reports.

This victory, however, is just the beginning of a new chapter. Moving forward, the City is committed to closely monitoring the success of fish passage through Bon Accord Creek, ensuring the sustained return of coho salmon to their spawning grounds.

This triumph serves as a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and perseverance in the realm of environmental conservation. It showcases how collective efforts can restore the balance of ecosystems, fostering the return of vital species like the coho salmon to their natural habitats.

The revival of Bon Accord Creek stands as a beacon of hope and inspiration for similar conservation efforts worldwide, reflecting our dedication to preserving and revitalizing the natural world we share. 🌎🐟 #SalmonRevival #EnvironmentalSuccess #BonAccordCreekRestoration

Another successful Flexi Baffle installation. We worked with the City of Surrey, B.C. and students with the Salmon Habitat Restoration Program (SHaRP) to implement the largest culvert rehabilitation project in North America. A large concrete flume on the Bon Accord Creek, a tributary of the lower Fraser River, has blocked salmon from accessing important salmon spawning habitat for many decades. We worked with City staff to develop a Flexi Baffle installation plan to increase water depth and slow water velocity to create conditions much more conducive to salmon passage.

Below are two strores from local media on the project.

The Fish Passage Action Team is an international coalition of people working to improve fish passage through road culverts and other conveyances. We have developed a variety of systems to improve the hydraulics in culverts and other conveyances to create better passage conditions for a variety of fishes and other aquatic organisms.

We recently began developing Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models to demonstrate the effects if the Flexi Baffle on hydrology of a culvert. We have developed baseline CFD models to assess the spacing and configuration of Flexi Baffles to create the conditions to meet various fish passage standards such as water depth and velocity.

We can now also provide an interested party an evaluation of your specific project site. We can use the actual dimensions, configuration and expected flows through your culvert, and we can develop a recommended Flexi Baffle installation. We can also provide the CFD modeling results that demonstrate that your Flexi Baffle installation is meeting the intended fish passage conditions. The link below is a Fish Passage Action Team newsletter on the first CFD model outputs.

https://mailchi.mp/bd0b1ef0f5e3/using-powerful-computer-modelling-cfd-to-understand-complex-flows?e=c50b522a62

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is working in cooperation with Trout Unlimited to study fish passage through a perched culvert within the Beaver Kill drainage in Delaware County. DEC staff installed Flexi Baffles in a culvert to improve fish passage.

They are now using RFID fish tag technology to evaluate the passage of three trout species through the culvert outfit with Flexi Baffles. The DEC created a great video explaining this project. We look forward to working with these groups on future successful fish passage projects. Please contact us if you need information on the #flexibaffle. #TU #fishpassage #culvert #conservation

Our friends in New Zealand have developed some pen and ink illustrations of the Flexi Baffle installed in a culvert to improve fish passage. There is also an illustration of a modified Flexi Baffle installation equipped with spat rope. This type of application is intended for passage of weak swimming species such as eels.

https://mailchi.mp/113d728108c6/excellent-drawings-clearly-showing-fish-passage-remediation-techniques?e=c50b522a62

The Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC) is a successful watershed restoration group focusing on Johnson Creek, a tributary to the Willamette River near Portland Oregon. Led by Executive Director Daniel Newberry, the JCWC works with the community to plan and implement a variety of volunteer and restoration activities in the Johnson Creek Basin. We worked with Restoration Project Manager Chuck Lobdell to complete the first Flexi Baffle installation in North America.

The JCWC wanted to improve fish passage through a 40-foot-long concrete culvert in the North Fork Johnson Creek Watershed. They found that coho salmon would exploit available habitat above the culvert of passage conditions were improved.

The video below demonstrated the results of the Flexi Baffle installation. The JCWC staff demonstrates how the flexible baffles interrupts laminar flow through the culvert and created resting pools which would allow fish to more easily pass through the culvert.

The JCWC installed Flexi Baffles in another culvert just upstream of that site. We will keep you posted on how it worked when we go out and inspect this summer. Stay tuned!

I talked with Cassie Jordan about culverts and fish passage. This was my first podcast and it was a lot of fun!

Here is how Cassie introduced the podcast.

Join Cassie Jordan and Shane Scott, owner of SSA Environmental LLC, to learn how installing flexible culvert baffles is an easy and inexpensive method to improve fish passage through culverts. Salmon, trout, and other fish and aquatic species are often blocked from their habitat by poorly designed or constructed culverts. Repairing or removing culverts is costly and requires considerable time and resources. SSA has developed culvert baffles that improves fish passage in an effective and economic manner.

About Shane Scott: Shane has over 30 years’ experience working with fish passage and water quality issues. He works with utilities and other industries in minimizing adverse effects of developments on fish and wildlife resources in a cost-effective manner. Shane has worked with Clients to development and implement a variety of fish and wildlife mitigation measures that are both biologically effective and cost efficient. He has also worked on some of the largest and most complex fish passage projects in North America.

In this video, Kelly Hughes will demonstrate the tools and methods needed to properly install the Flexi Baffle. An installation like this will improve passage for fish and other aquatic organisms.

The White River Partnership in CT installed Flexi Baffles in a large culvert to improve passage for fish and other aquatic organisms into Mill Creek.

https://anr.vermont.gov/content/innovative-project-help-fish-and-other-aquatic-organisms-travel-mill-brook

Check out this video of several Flexi Baffles in culverts throughout North America. The Flexi Baffle creates hydraulic conditions to improve the passage of fish and eels and other aquatic organisms. The flexible baffle material allows rocks, logs and other debris to pass through the culvert which eliminates expensive and dangerous maintenance required to remove the material. Also, the flexible baffles bend lay flat at high water, so they have minimal effect on culvert capacity.

We finally entered the next generation of website operation. We plan to post updates for the variety of interesting projects we work on for out valuable customers. 

We mean it when we say, “Trusted Solutions for Valuable Customers…”.