The Issaquah Creek project, which included replacing the dam upstream of the hatchery, is not quite finished yet.

The dam has been removed, replaced by a series of natural fish ladders made of a series of rock weirs, but the upper intake has been a battle with Mother Nature.

“We’ve had to fight the elements every time it rained hard,” said Tim Ward with the State Department of Fish and Wildlife. He is the project’s coordinator.

The old intake, dating back to the 1930s, brought water to the hatchery through a pipe. However, that created a fish barrier Ward said. The new intake, about 500-feet upstream, doesn’t require the dam, but every time it rained heavily it put the 10- to 15-man crew behind a week.

Ward said it’s not easy trying to make nature and engineering come together. He said they hope to have the “in water” work done Friday, Dec. 6.

Then, all that is left to do is clean up, finish some utility pipe connections and some concrete shoulder work. That should all be done at the end of the month.

Ward said the crew has pulled all of the obstructions out and water is flowing freely. Now the hatchery can adjust how many fish go up at a time accordingly.

“The weirs look beautiful, and we’ve seen fish going up,” he said.

The entire project was originally slated to be completed Sept. 15. The cost of the project was $4 million, approved by the Legislature earlier this year.