Harper Estuary

Harper Estuary is a small but significant estuary on Kitsap County’s south-eastern shore. The estuary has important value for fish and wildlife, Tribal treaty resources, recreation, and local history. The Harper Estuary Restoration Project aims to re-establish tidal influence and estuarine habitat. 

• 1-28-2025 Meeting Slides: Harper Estuary Restoration Project Update Community Meeting
  

Harper Bridge Construction Set for Summer 2026

Kitsap County is breaking ground on a long-awaited restoration project in South Kitsap. After more than 20 years of planning, studies, and community input, the County will replace the undersized 3-foot culvert blocking fish passage with a new 120-foot bridge—restoring a high-priority estuary at Harper.

Funding from federal, state, and local partners has been secured to complete the final phase of this effort. On December 8, 2025, the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners approved a contract with Scarsella Bros., Inc. to build the Harper Estuary bridge. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026, with completion anticipated by April 2027.

Community members are invited to a public meeting in February 2026 to learn more about traffic impacts, park access, and the construction timeline. Additional details will be shared in the new year.

Construction Schedule

• Construction: June 2026 – January 2027
• Anticipated project completion: April 2027
  

Final Design

The final design includes refined stormwater treatment, pedestrian access, and a small watercraft hand launch on the northeast side of the bridge.

• Kayak View Artistic Rendering
• Street View Artistic Rendering
• Final Design Plans

Funding Secured: $9,296,000

• $6,840,000 – PROTECT Program (Federal)
• $1,456,000 – Brian Abbot Fish Barrier Removal Board (State)
• $1,000,000 – Kitsap County REET 2 (Local)

Community Outreach

Project updates will be shared through this Harper Estuary webpage and GovDelivery email blasts. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive up-to-date information about the project. For questions or comments about the project, please email help@kitsap.gov or call 360-337-5777.

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History of Harper Estuary

The Harper Estuary is a small embayment in southern Kitsap County with a rich local history tied to the native peoples and modern development in the area. Pocket estuaries and salt marshes, like Harper Estuary, are important to the Puget Sound nearshore ecosystem. These habitats are highly productive for fish and wildlife. Shallow protected waters fringed by salt marsh plants provide abundant food and refuge for juvenile salmonids and waterfowl. Harper Park and Pier are also focal points for local community recreation and aesthetics. Harper Estuary has been impacted by fill associated with former development activities.  A brick mining and manufacturing facility was built in the southwest portion of the estuary in the early 1900s (approximately where the Harper Park ball field is today). When the factory was abandoned in the 1940s, the buildings were demolished, with much of the material pushed into the estuary, along with “clinker” bricks and barge-loading spillage. Bricks associated with the history of Harper Estuary remain visible today.

The estuary’s natural functions have also been impacted by current and historic road fill, along with other fill material for the boat landing. Tidal influence is also restricted by an undersized culvert under SE Olympiad Drive.  Before Olympiad Drive, fill and pilings associated with a drawbridge road approach and shoreline road also filled portions of Harper Estuary.

Why Restoration?

The Harper Estuary Barrier Correction is the final phase of restoration and is the culmination of more than a decade of hard work and collaboration by many partners. The Harper Estuary restoration project was selected by the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) in 2013 for funding through the Natural Resource Damage funds associated with the Cleanup Settlement Account for the ASARCO smelter site in Tacoma.  The restoration project was designed to build on conceptual planning for habitat restoration over the past decade (e.g., PSNERP 2011) and to incorporate stakeholder and community outreach input into the final project design. In 2016, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife completed several restoration actions at the site, including the removal of a fill dirt boat launch, reconnection of a tidal wetland, removal of bricks and fill, and replacement of an undersized culvert under SE Southworth Drive, which was a fish passage barrier and a barrier to tidal flows. This site is a priority for restoration because small estuaries like this provide critical rearing habitat for juvenile fish species, such as Chinook salmon, and serve many other ecosystem functions, contributing to the health of the community. 

 Harper Community Meetings