Those were some great questions on the culvert project.
It did go through an extensive environmental review that included a public comment period.
There are no fish at A-Basin. Down below the bottom of Pali there is a significant waterfall that blocks fish movement to The Basin. There are lots of fish below that waterfall.
The rocks and boulders serve a couple of good purposes.
1) Even though there are no fish, there are other critters up here and they can now move along a more natural channel.
2) The rocks and boulders are durable. The corrugated metal pipe of a round culvert does not last long up here. During runoff, lots of smaller rocks move down the channel. Those smaller rocks destroy the metal pipe. With a natural, rocky bottom, this culvert should last a really long time.
This new culvert has a capacity many times greater than the old one. Mother Nature can be a little prickly. This new channel will do a much better job handling her extreme events and will still be intact when she is done.
Lastly, I don't think tubing this is a good idea.
