A restoration project in the Salmon Run Nature Park is underway to prevent flooding from the Issaquah Creek, create walking trails and protect the lives of migrating salmon.

The city of Issaquah contracted with Redmond-based IO Environment and Infrastructure, Inc. and Kirkland-based The Watershed Company, which provided the park’s design, to transform the former farmland into a well-groomed city park.

The 2.3-acre park, which surrounds Issaquah Creek behind Gilman Village, was known as the Darren Pritt property before the city acquired it for open space in 2013.

Issaquah Surface Water Manager Kerry Ritland said that the city has been attaining land since the 1980s in order to create parks for public enjoyment and also to allow the city to help save animal habitats.

“Salmon restoration efforts require acquisitions,” he said. One of the species of salmon that travels through the creek is the chinook salmon, which is on the Endangered Species List.

The project is composed of three different parts, Ritland explained. First, to help deal with erosion on the banks of Issaquah Creek, workers are putting over 100 logs and stumps down along 450 feet of the creek as a natural barrier to floods.

Not only will the pieces of wood “armor the stream bank,” Ritland said, but they will also “provide a natural habitat to the salmon.” The riprap that was previously on the banks damaged the salmon’s homes.

Habitat restoration is the second part of the enterprise. The addition of the logs and stumps create pools, ripples and deep spots where salmon can take refuge from everyday predators and also from high-velocity waters during times of flooding. A meandering path gives many more opportunities for hiding than a wide, flat one, Ritland said.

The newly-spawned salmon are especially in need of safe havens in the creek; some baby salmon spend up to a year in the creek before making their way to the ocean.

Part three consists of creating trails on both sides of the creek to provide places for residents to walk, and perhaps even a spot to view the salmon. Crews cleared the land of the overgrown berry bushes that had previously hidden the creek from view. Environmental conservation volunteer group Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust will come in and plant native vegetation, including trees, along the creek.

Ritland said that the formerly overgrown land will become “more of a planned-out park.

“It’s been a long-neglected section of creek,” he continued. “It will be much improved when we’re done.”

The multi-faceted undertaking is expected to cost $750,000, the majority of which is funded by grants from the King County Flood Control District.

The city began its work on the park in June and will continue through August. In the fall and winter, vegetation will be planted.