Before photo of Carp Lake River culverts. - FWS photo

After photo of the new bridge on the Carp Lake River that replaced the degraded twin culverts. - FWS photo

The Carp Lake River is a small watershed in lower Michigan that supports a brook trout fishery and runs of pink salmon and steelhead.  It is also home to the endangered Hungerford’s crawling water beetle. 

The Oliver Road crossing had twin undersized culverts that increased velocity, which posed a problem for fish passage upstream for an additional seven miles.  Erosion at the site caused an estimated 10 tons of sediment to enter the stream annually.  

The Green Bay Fishery Resources Office partnered with Conservation Resource Alliance, Emmitt County Road Commission and several local landowners to address the problem crossing. 

Funding was secured through the Fish Passage program to match other sources and the twin culverts were replaced with a timber bridge. 

This project had many hurdles to overcome during the process including a last minute change to address access with a temporary bridge, obtaining numerous temporary easements, a biological opinion for Hungerford’s crawling water beetle and a last minute change in the status of beetle numbers at the project site. 

Service personnel and partner agencies worked through each issue to complete a project that has many positive impacts within the watershed.