Project Links
Reconstruct Portion of Company Creek Road (Emergency Temporary Flood Repair Project)
North Cascades NP » Reconstruct Portion of Company Creek Road (Emergency Temporary Flood Repair Project)
On December 11, 2025, the Stehekin River experienced the second largest flood of record. This flood shifted the Stehekin River channel alignment and eroded approximately 1000 feet of Company Creek Road (route 100B), an adjacent 400 ft levee, and eliminated the utility of the existing federal fee ownership in between private property. The site at road milepost 2.1 received the most significant damage and impacts severed vehicle access to approximately 35 residents (both year-round and seasonal) beyond the damaged areas. The multiple branches of floodwaters which diverged from the main river channel caused damage in multiple areas within a mile of the initial erosion site. Out of the 35 affected residents, flooding also impacts private property owners who lose vehicle access when Battalion Creek inundates Company Creek Road at road milepost 1 due to the loss of the levee. This had the potential to occur when Stehekin River discharge measured at the USGS gaging station exceeded 3,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), approximately 30-60 days per year before the construction of the emergency road.
The 2012 Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan (SRCIP) notes that a significant proportion of human activity in the Stehekin Valley has occurred in the floodplain. 'Because development is generally limited to the relatively flat floor of the valley, much of it has occurred within the Stehekin River floodplain. Yet, this floodplain comprises only two percent of the watershed. Approximately half of the private land within the Stehekin Valley lies within the channel migration zone (CMZ), the area within which the Stehekin River has historically migrated over the past 1,000 years. Numerous private homes and some administrative facilities are located within the 100-year floodplain, which is within the channel migration zone.' The Company Creek Road and levee were constructed by local landowners and NPS crews in 1971 adjacent to the Stehekin River. It extended from about 200 feet above the damage site to the end of the damaged site. The SRCIP notes that 'In the spring and fall the Company Creek Road is often subject to flooding, particularly in its upper and lower portion, near the NPS maintenance area and Mileposts 2.1 - 2.2. Other portions of the road have received floodwaters in the last several major floods, with portions of the road being damaged or lost and rebuilt in place.' Thus, this area is subject to frequent flooding with water engaging the floodplain and erosion that results in rebuilding and repairing the road, and this represents the long-term baseline condition of the area. The SCRIP evaluated the effects of maintaining Company Creek Road, impacts to the channel migration zone from maintaining the current alignment, as well as the erosion protection structures that have proliferated on the lower Stehekin River in the past since the early 1980s in response to flooding and river channel changes. The SRCIP details erosion control actions taken up until 2013 on p. 307 of the EIS.
As part of the selected action in the SRCIP Record of Decision (2013), the 'Company Creek Road would be maintained in its current alignment and condition', and NPS would 'maintain and repair as necessary the array of erosion protection measures along the upper Company Creek Road.' The existing levee would be retained to allow the Company Creek Road to remain in its current location. The plan noted that catastrophic river avulsion (major channel shift) could occur, in which case road reroutes could be considered, however, the SCRIP noted that its purpose was to implement the parks 1995 Lake Chelan General Management Plan, which considered but dismissed rerouting the Company Creek Road, noting that NPS actions in the past 15 years have increased bank stabilization along the road. The plan also noted that if future flooding were to preclude motor vehicle access to private land from the public road system, the NPS would evaluate the potential for providing alternative motor vehicle access across public land on a case-by-case basis. The NPS intends to do this in a long-term planning effort once this immediate emergency is addressed.
In early 2026, the park completed environmental compliance, including a categorical exclusion (CE) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for emergency temporary road construction following the December 2025 flooding. The scope of construction included emergency repairs and reconstruction / realignment of the damaged portions of Company Creek Road due to the migration of the Stehekin River. The goal of the construction work was to restore access to vehicular traffic to the extent that it could be feasibly constructed before the spring river runoff increased flows above the flood stage. Construction of the road began April 1, 2026. As of mid-June 2026, NPS (via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) installed or repaired 1,500 linear feet of temporary road to serve as emergency/interim access, using 12,500 tons of rock. Access has been extended as deep as possible across public land, but several properties remain without access. Supersack water diversion barriers were installed during construction in order to continue work through the spring high flows. The highest flows experienced in spring 2026 was 6,200 cfs.
In the spring of 2026 the NPS provided funding to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Omaha District Rapid Response Team to survey and construct a road segment connecting the remaining portion of Company Creek Road to the NPS boundary to enable access to the private property. NPS does not fund any construction on private property. USACE conducted field scoping, and road realignment construction work through the forest south of the original alignment. The original project area was approximately one mile of Company Creek Road (Route 100B), from approximately one mile north of its intersection with Stehekin River Road at the Battalion Creek crossing to its terminus. The reconstruction was anticipated to include approximately 750 linear feet (lf) of new alignment to be constructed on ground recently inundated by flooding, but otherwise previously undisturbed. The remaining 750 feet of roadwork included raising the elevation of the remaining road and replacing the driving surface aggregate where damaged. The project also identified various staging areas for storing rock and gravel. The temporary road was initally intended to last at least through the 2027 spring runoff season, reduce avulsion risk, and minimize negative effects on the downstream Battalion Creek culverts until a permanent road intended to withstand reasonably-expected future river elevations can be designed and built. Currently, the temporary road is expected to be in service through 2028 or early 2029, when a more permanent solution will be completed.
The majority of the work in the original CE was completed, with construction proceeding to the edge of a parcel of private property. Once the road was built to the private property boundary, the landowner declined to allow road access through his property, requiring NPS to evaluate moving this section of road to its previous location within what is now part of the river. Re-establishing the road in this area would require approximately 300 to 350 linear feet of in-river construction, and temporary rechanneling of the river to the north. Subsequently, in August 2026, the park and region were tasked with rebuilding this portion of temporary road in cooperation with Chelan County, on public land within the river corridor, in the area where the original roadway existed.
Because the original proposed action changed, which was not reasonably foreseeable at that time, NPS developed additional environmental compliance, including revising the original CE (first revised CE), to address the impacts of constructing approximately 300 to 350 linear feet of road within the existing river channel, dewatering the river in this area, rechanneling of the river to the north, reworking the west end of the newly constructed temporary road to connect with the proposed in-river road segment, elevating the existing road to match the county-constructed road, and creating additional flood diversion barriers. This first revised CE was signed on August 28, 2026, and a special use permit was issued to Chelan County for in-river construction of the road and extension connectors.
After the first revised CE was signed on August 28, 2026, several design changes were shared by Chelan County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and additional resource information was provided by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
These changes are as follows:
• On September 4, 2026, based on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) presentation, NPS decided HESCO barriers were likely not feasible due to the height, appearance, materials needed to fill the proposed extensive design configuration, and the extent of new ground disturbance (see below for more details) and asked USACE to prepare a design change to elevate the existing temporary roadway to match the elevation (approx. 1,266 ft.) of the to-be-built in-river county road, in lieu of installing HESCO barriers. This would also require some Supersacks to be placed by the park to prevent water from running south adjacent to Company Creek road.
• On September 08, 2026, the Washington State Department of Fish and Game (WDFW) shared they had surveyed the project area the week prior and found spawning Kokanee salmon and redds in and adjacent to the project area (see below for more details).
• On September 10, 2026, Chelan County conveyed minor design changes to NPS, related to channel excavation and site isolation measures for dewatering (see below for more details).
The originally-proposed road construction was generally covered in the first completed CE (March 27, 2026), with exception of a slightly larger road prism given the proposed elevation gain, while the change in channel excavation measures and the change in the type of site isolation measures for dewatering would likely result in fewer environmental impacts than those anticipated in the first revised CE (August 28, 2026). However, because no construction activities had begun, on September 14, 2026, the park proposed to issue a second revised CE with these additional updates (second revised CE). The second revised CE covers all actions not yet taken, and the extraordinary circumstances also evaluate all remaining actions to be taken.
As of now, construction under the special use permit issued to Chelan County will not begin onsite until Monday, September 21, 2026. Tree-cutting activities that could potentially affect Northern spotted owl habitat will not occur until later in the project once Chelan County has connected the existing roads, and not until consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is completed.
Evaluation and design of a long-term solution for the road will be established in an upcoming long-term planning effort initiated by the park. This planning effort may include consideration of more permanent flood control measures. Consequently, the proposed action in this project is temporary in nature pending the results and implementation of the long-term planning effort expected to be completed in 2027, with final construction complete by the end of 2028 or early 2029.
The work needed to finalize the temporary road is part of the original emergency response to the December 11, 2025, atmospheric river and flood event. In accordance with the DOI NEPA regulations addressing emergencies (36 C.F.R. 46.150), NPS has opted to utilize a categorical exclusion (CE) instead of requesting alternative arrangements. The emergency nature of this project explains the speed with which this process has unfolded. The original work was supported by an emergency declaration issued by the Governor of Washington State on December 10, 2025, but remains unfinished as there is still a gap in the connection to the stranded end of Company Creek Road. Although the spring flood season has passed, the emergency conditions persist since the roadway has yet to be reconnected, hindering access and emergency egress. Furthermore, this work is also part of a new emergency response to address potential fall flooding. The largest flood event on record in Stehekin happened October 20, 2003. Exacerbating this risk of high flows is the fact that the riverbed is now much higher than before the flood. The December 2025 flood carried large volumes of cobble and other sediments which have deposited (aggraded) adjacent to the washout, meaning that even lower volumes create flood conditions that overtop the river banks, threatening property and access.
To quantify those effects, on November 4, 2023, there was moderately high flooding at 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) and again in December 5, 2023, at 6,300 cfs, and now a flow greater than 3,000 cfs is likely to cause flooding of the Company Creek neighborhood area. The SRCIP notes that spring floods may last for weeks, but that fall and early winter floods are larger than spring floods. Data collected from the USGS Stehekin River gauge corroborates this pattern with short very high flood events in the fall and moderate events lasting weeks in the spring. The record flood event of October 20, 2003, reached 26,000 cfs. There is urgency to continue using rapid construction strategies to restore emergency roadway connectivity since continued road repairs require a long lead time to barge construction materials and equipment up the 55-mile long Lake Chelan to Stehekin, a remote, isolated community and area. Remaining damage to the park road continues to sever access to property owners. It currently does not function as a levee along the river channel, and the higher riverbed means that a lower high-water level will cause flooding in the Company Creek neighborhood. Instead of the 10,000 - 15,000 cfs events traditionally experienced in the Fall, high water levels within 3,000 - 6,000 cfs will increase flooding risk and potential impacts to safety, life, and property.
The 2012 Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan (SRCIP) notes that a significant proportion of human activity in the Stehekin Valley has occurred in the floodplain. 'Because development is generally limited to the relatively flat floor of the valley, much of it has occurred within the Stehekin River floodplain. Yet, this floodplain comprises only two percent of the watershed. Approximately half of the private land within the Stehekin Valley lies within the channel migration zone (CMZ), the area within which the Stehekin River has historically migrated over the past 1,000 years. Numerous private homes and some administrative facilities are located within the 100-year floodplain, which is within the channel migration zone.' The Company Creek Road and levee were constructed by local landowners and NPS crews in 1971 adjacent to the Stehekin River. It extended from about 200 feet above the damage site to the end of the damaged site. The SRCIP notes that 'In the spring and fall the Company Creek Road is often subject to flooding, particularly in its upper and lower portion, near the NPS maintenance area and Mileposts 2.1 - 2.2. Other portions of the road have received floodwaters in the last several major floods, with portions of the road being damaged or lost and rebuilt in place.' Thus, this area is subject to frequent flooding with water engaging the floodplain and erosion that results in rebuilding and repairing the road, and this represents the long-term baseline condition of the area. The SCRIP evaluated the effects of maintaining Company Creek Road, impacts to the channel migration zone from maintaining the current alignment, as well as the erosion protection structures that have proliferated on the lower Stehekin River in the past since the early 1980s in response to flooding and river channel changes. The SRCIP details erosion control actions taken up until 2013 on p. 307 of the EIS.
As part of the selected action in the SRCIP Record of Decision (2013), the 'Company Creek Road would be maintained in its current alignment and condition', and NPS would 'maintain and repair as necessary the array of erosion protection measures along the upper Company Creek Road.' The existing levee would be retained to allow the Company Creek Road to remain in its current location. The plan noted that catastrophic river avulsion (major channel shift) could occur, in which case road reroutes could be considered, however, the SCRIP noted that its purpose was to implement the parks 1995 Lake Chelan General Management Plan, which considered but dismissed rerouting the Company Creek Road, noting that NPS actions in the past 15 years have increased bank stabilization along the road. The plan also noted that if future flooding were to preclude motor vehicle access to private land from the public road system, the NPS would evaluate the potential for providing alternative motor vehicle access across public land on a case-by-case basis. The NPS intends to do this in a long-term planning effort once this immediate emergency is addressed.
In early 2026, the park completed environmental compliance, including a categorical exclusion (CE) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for emergency temporary road construction following the December 2025 flooding. The scope of construction included emergency repairs and reconstruction / realignment of the damaged portions of Company Creek Road due to the migration of the Stehekin River. The goal of the construction work was to restore access to vehicular traffic to the extent that it could be feasibly constructed before the spring river runoff increased flows above the flood stage. Construction of the road began April 1, 2026. As of mid-June 2026, NPS (via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) installed or repaired 1,500 linear feet of temporary road to serve as emergency/interim access, using 12,500 tons of rock. Access has been extended as deep as possible across public land, but several properties remain without access. Supersack water diversion barriers were installed during construction in order to continue work through the spring high flows. The highest flows experienced in spring 2026 was 6,200 cfs.
In the spring of 2026 the NPS provided funding to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Omaha District Rapid Response Team to survey and construct a road segment connecting the remaining portion of Company Creek Road to the NPS boundary to enable access to the private property. NPS does not fund any construction on private property. USACE conducted field scoping, and road realignment construction work through the forest south of the original alignment. The original project area was approximately one mile of Company Creek Road (Route 100B), from approximately one mile north of its intersection with Stehekin River Road at the Battalion Creek crossing to its terminus. The reconstruction was anticipated to include approximately 750 linear feet (lf) of new alignment to be constructed on ground recently inundated by flooding, but otherwise previously undisturbed. The remaining 750 feet of roadwork included raising the elevation of the remaining road and replacing the driving surface aggregate where damaged. The project also identified various staging areas for storing rock and gravel. The temporary road was initally intended to last at least through the 2027 spring runoff season, reduce avulsion risk, and minimize negative effects on the downstream Battalion Creek culverts until a permanent road intended to withstand reasonably-expected future river elevations can be designed and built. Currently, the temporary road is expected to be in service through 2028 or early 2029, when a more permanent solution will be completed.
The majority of the work in the original CE was completed, with construction proceeding to the edge of a parcel of private property. Once the road was built to the private property boundary, the landowner declined to allow road access through his property, requiring NPS to evaluate moving this section of road to its previous location within what is now part of the river. Re-establishing the road in this area would require approximately 300 to 350 linear feet of in-river construction, and temporary rechanneling of the river to the north. Subsequently, in August 2026, the park and region were tasked with rebuilding this portion of temporary road in cooperation with Chelan County, on public land within the river corridor, in the area where the original roadway existed.
Because the original proposed action changed, which was not reasonably foreseeable at that time, NPS developed additional environmental compliance, including revising the original CE (first revised CE), to address the impacts of constructing approximately 300 to 350 linear feet of road within the existing river channel, dewatering the river in this area, rechanneling of the river to the north, reworking the west end of the newly constructed temporary road to connect with the proposed in-river road segment, elevating the existing road to match the county-constructed road, and creating additional flood diversion barriers. This first revised CE was signed on August 28, 2026, and a special use permit was issued to Chelan County for in-river construction of the road and extension connectors.
After the first revised CE was signed on August 28, 2026, several design changes were shared by Chelan County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and additional resource information was provided by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
These changes are as follows:
• On September 4, 2026, based on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) presentation, NPS decided HESCO barriers were likely not feasible due to the height, appearance, materials needed to fill the proposed extensive design configuration, and the extent of new ground disturbance (see below for more details) and asked USACE to prepare a design change to elevate the existing temporary roadway to match the elevation (approx. 1,266 ft.) of the to-be-built in-river county road, in lieu of installing HESCO barriers. This would also require some Supersacks to be placed by the park to prevent water from running south adjacent to Company Creek road.
• On September 08, 2026, the Washington State Department of Fish and Game (WDFW) shared they had surveyed the project area the week prior and found spawning Kokanee salmon and redds in and adjacent to the project area (see below for more details).
• On September 10, 2026, Chelan County conveyed minor design changes to NPS, related to channel excavation and site isolation measures for dewatering (see below for more details).
The originally-proposed road construction was generally covered in the first completed CE (March 27, 2026), with exception of a slightly larger road prism given the proposed elevation gain, while the change in channel excavation measures and the change in the type of site isolation measures for dewatering would likely result in fewer environmental impacts than those anticipated in the first revised CE (August 28, 2026). However, because no construction activities had begun, on September 14, 2026, the park proposed to issue a second revised CE with these additional updates (second revised CE). The second revised CE covers all actions not yet taken, and the extraordinary circumstances also evaluate all remaining actions to be taken.
As of now, construction under the special use permit issued to Chelan County will not begin onsite until Monday, September 21, 2026. Tree-cutting activities that could potentially affect Northern spotted owl habitat will not occur until later in the project once Chelan County has connected the existing roads, and not until consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is completed.
Evaluation and design of a long-term solution for the road will be established in an upcoming long-term planning effort initiated by the park. This planning effort may include consideration of more permanent flood control measures. Consequently, the proposed action in this project is temporary in nature pending the results and implementation of the long-term planning effort expected to be completed in 2027, with final construction complete by the end of 2028 or early 2029.
The work needed to finalize the temporary road is part of the original emergency response to the December 11, 2025, atmospheric river and flood event. In accordance with the DOI NEPA regulations addressing emergencies (36 C.F.R. 46.150), NPS has opted to utilize a categorical exclusion (CE) instead of requesting alternative arrangements. The emergency nature of this project explains the speed with which this process has unfolded. The original work was supported by an emergency declaration issued by the Governor of Washington State on December 10, 2025, but remains unfinished as there is still a gap in the connection to the stranded end of Company Creek Road. Although the spring flood season has passed, the emergency conditions persist since the roadway has yet to be reconnected, hindering access and emergency egress. Furthermore, this work is also part of a new emergency response to address potential fall flooding. The largest flood event on record in Stehekin happened October 20, 2003. Exacerbating this risk of high flows is the fact that the riverbed is now much higher than before the flood. The December 2025 flood carried large volumes of cobble and other sediments which have deposited (aggraded) adjacent to the washout, meaning that even lower volumes create flood conditions that overtop the river banks, threatening property and access.
To quantify those effects, on November 4, 2023, there was moderately high flooding at 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) and again in December 5, 2023, at 6,300 cfs, and now a flow greater than 3,000 cfs is likely to cause flooding of the Company Creek neighborhood area. The SRCIP notes that spring floods may last for weeks, but that fall and early winter floods are larger than spring floods. Data collected from the USGS Stehekin River gauge corroborates this pattern with short very high flood events in the fall and moderate events lasting weeks in the spring. The record flood event of October 20, 2003, reached 26,000 cfs. There is urgency to continue using rapid construction strategies to restore emergency roadway connectivity since continued road repairs require a long lead time to barge construction materials and equipment up the 55-mile long Lake Chelan to Stehekin, a remote, isolated community and area. Remaining damage to the park road continues to sever access to property owners. It currently does not function as a levee along the river channel, and the higher riverbed means that a lower high-water level will cause flooding in the Company Creek neighborhood. Instead of the 10,000 - 15,000 cfs events traditionally experienced in the Fall, high water levels within 3,000 - 6,000 cfs will increase flooding risk and potential impacts to safety, life, and property.