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On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it is awarding $39,819,704 in grants to tribes, local governments and communities in Washington state for the removal of fish barriers and restoration of salmon habitat, according to a news release from Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office.
A total of 10 projects will be funded statewide, with nine of them being led or completed in partnership with tribal governments. The main goal will be to remove smaller, obsolete dams, culverts and other barriers to reopen salmon migration routes, allowing more salmon to return to spawning grounds.
In the lower Chehalis Basin, $1,231,350 will be awarded to the City of Hoquiam for a Hoquiam River Dam removal feasibility assessment. If the dam is removed, 13 miles of salmon habitat would be restored and instream flows to the watershed would improve, according to the release.
This project has been prioritized by the tribes and Chehalis Basin restoration partners due to the potential restored habitat being more resilient to climate change because of the cooler waters in the area. Salmon survival is highly dependent on cool water.
The other nine projects being funded include:
• $10.39 million for Quillayute and Quinault watersheds culvert removal
• $7.07 million for Olympic Peninsula fish barrier replacements
• $9.73 million for Snohomish River Basin fish barrier removal
• $1.23 million for Martin Slough, Hatchery Creek and Everett Creek fish habitat restoration
• $456,206 for Bellingham area fish passage barrier planning
• $3.62 million for Yakima Basin causeway removal and hydraulic modeling
• $2.31 million Similkameen River Enloe Dam removal planning
• $1.17 million for Snake Creek barrier removal
• $2.57 million for Wildboy Creek Kwoneesum Dam removal
“Barriers like obsolete dams and impassable (culverts) block salmon from migrating to their spawning grounds across the state, from the Skagit and Snohomish rivers in Northwest Washington to the Washougal River in Southwest Washington, and the Yakima River and Columbia River basins in Central Washington to the Hoquiam River on the Olympic Peninsula,” Cantwell said in the release. “These projects help recover salmon stocks important to southern resident orcas, coastal ecosystems and our economy by supporting commercial, recreational and Tribal fishing communities.”
The $39.8 million is part of a total of $105 million in NOAA grants going toward 36 fish passage projects nationwide next year. A full list of those projects can be found online at https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/download/2022-bil-fish-barrier-removal-projects.
