A decision from the federal government not to list a specific variety of Washington salmon as endangered also stated the proposed Chehalis River flow-through dam is unlikely to seriously harm salmon runs.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a “12-month finding” report on Thursday, Feb. 19, that declared spring-run Chinook salmon did not meet the criteria for increased protections under the federal endangered species act.
The finding also stated that a proposed flow-through dam near Pe Ell “poses a low risk” to Chinook salmon in the Chehalis basin when considering cooperation and mitigation efforts from the organization proposing the project — the Chehalis Basin Flood Control Zone District.
The decision is a change of course for the agency that in a previous “90-day finding” had cited environmental impact reviews of an older design for the project and predicted severe impacts on wild salmon runs.
The finding came as a relief to the local flood district. However, one petitioner group that sought protections for salmon, the Center for Biological Diversity, labeled the decision a failure of the federal government and the Trump administration. The Office of the Chehalis Basin (OCB), which handles flood and fish issues in the basin, insisted that despite the finding, research shows Chinook salmon are facing a steep decline.
“The Chehalis is the largest river basin in Washington without any listed salmonid species and we’re working hard to keep it that way,” OCB Director Jeff Zenk said.
The OCB is tasked with balancing fish restoration with addressing disastrous flooding and is currently considering whether to include the flow-through dam in its long-term plan to address flooding and fish habitat in the basin.
The petition
The finding is in direct response to a petition submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in 2023 by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers. The petition specifically requested that NMFS list spring-run Washington Coast Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered. The NMFS could do so by listing all Washington Coast Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered or by declaring spring-run Chinook in the area a genetically distinct species that itself is threatened or endangered.
The original petition makes a case for the latter suggesting that recent research has shown that spring-run Chinook have specific genes that dictate their run timing and that the genes are significant to the evolution of the species.
In the petition, the Center for Biological Diversity said state and federal efforts to protect spring-run Chinook so far have been inadequate and that endangered species protections are necessary.
“If we want to see these magnificent giants of the salmon world survive for future generations then they need Endangered Species Act protections,” Margaret Townsend, senior freshwater attorney with the center, said in a statement responding to the decision. “That’s the best tool we have to address threats to salmon habitat and reverse ongoing population declines.”
The recent decision from NMFS, however, declines to do either, stating that Washington Coast Chinook salmon are “not presently in danger of extinction nor are they likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range.”
The decision also states that based on the agency's findings spring-run Chinook do not meet the agency's definition of a species.
The original petition also cited a range of concerns and risk factors facing spring-run Chinook salmon, including the possibility of the construction of a flow-through dam in the headwaters of the Chehalis River.
Flow-through dam
The decision has added relevance to the Chehalis Basin as it is the first signal from the federal government on if changes to the design of a flow-through dam proposed to be built near Pe Ell, and an attached mitigation plan, will be enough to protect salmon species and eventually move forward with the structure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is set to release its environmental impact statement of the newest version of the project later this year.
A Washington state Department of Ecology draft environmental analysis released last year declared the dam would have severe and “unavoidable” impacts, but also recognized that it did not fully consider a proposed mitigation plan or model that plans impacts.
The Chehalis Basin Flood Control Zone District — essentially the flood arm of Lewis County — expressed relief at the decision in a statement provided to The Chronicle. In the statement, the district refers to four years of work to adapt the design, operation and mitigation plan to meet aquatic species restoration standards.
“We take the impacts to all fish very seriously, whether or not listed as endangered,” Deputy District Administrator Eric Eisenberg said over email on behalf of the district.
The statement adds that the district seeks to continue improving its mitigation plan in the future and work with regional, state, tribal and federal agencies to do so.
The recent finding may come as a surprise to some. An earlier “90-day finding” from NMFS cited the Army Corps of Engineers analysis of the Flood Control Zone District's 2020 design of the project. That analysis predicted a profound impact on native salmon runs.
“During the five-year construction period Chinook salmon returning to the upper mainstem river could be reduced by up to 80 percent,” reads the 90-day petition.
The Flood Control Zone District submitted a lengthy comment after the 90-day finding clarifying that it had proposed a new design with a related mitigation plan intended to address the largest concerns.
The latest NMFS finding still recognizes the risks of the proposed structure, citing in particular the impact the dam's reservoir area could have when filled. The flooded area could harm the survivability of clutches of salmon eggs, also referred to as redds, when the reservoir is being used.
According to studies by the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Chinook salmon have been known to lay as many as one to 24 redds in the area that could be impacted by the proposed dam.
The report does not provide modeling of impacts to fish, but states that changes to operation, along with a mitigation plan, vegetation management plan and more addressed previous concerns.
The Center for Biological Diversity pushed back against the ruling with specific comments on the proposed flow-through dam, arguing that the placement of the dam could be disastrous both to the resident spring-run Chinook salmon and other species that rely on them.
“It makes no sense to build a dam in the headwaters of the Chehalis River while wild spring Chinook salmon are already declining there, with runs dwindling to less than a quarter of their former glory in recent years,” Townsend said.
