Plan to ensure salmon can thrive in state's most urban watershed wins approval

June 27, 2005

Plan to ensure salmon can thrive in state's most urban watershed wins approval

A detailed plan aimed at ensuring a legacy of healthy salmon in the most populated watershed in Washington took a big step forward today by winning King County Council approval.

King County Executive Ron Sims, a founder of the Shared Strategy for Puget Sound salmon recovery planning process, had high praise for the County Council and the 27 jurisdictions that have participated in developing the WRIA 8 (Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish) Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan.

"It is truly remarkable that this watershed is home to 14 distinct salmon stocks - from chinook to kokanee - as well as 1.3 million people," Sims said. "We need to make certain our salmon and our water quality are a legacy, not a legend. This practical, cost-effective plan - endorsed by the people living and working in the watershed - is the type of ground-breaking collaborative approach that can sustain our region's salmon legacy. I look forward to seeing the contributions from this plan to the fish and people of this region."

The plan was built on the watershed community's strong collaborative and can-do spirit developed over decades and responsible for successes like the clean-up of Lake Washington. The plan will be a cornerstone to the region's response to the listing of chinook salmon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1999 and is an important part of the effort to return our salmon to harvestable and sustainable levels.

The Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish watershed is unique in ways beyond its urban population, which is more than double that of the 13 other watersheds that make up Puget Sound . This most urban watershed is home to a great number of national and international companies, establishing it as a nationally recognized industrial and commercial center. Hundreds of thousands of fish pass through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard every year, and the 692-square-mile watershed is home to two major lakes and two major river systems.

Primary spawning areas within the watershed include the Cedar River, Bear Creek and Issaquah Creek. The plan calls out the Cedar River chinook population as a top priority and recommends reconnecting the river to its floodplain and to restore pools and side channels. At Bear Creek, the plan puts a premium on protecting groundwater, wetland sources of cold, clean water, and on protecting forest cover. Acknowledging that Issaquah Creek contributes some of the best chinook habitat remaining within the watershed, it recommends that protecting this habitat, along with forest cover and wetlands, should be a high priority.

The plan also stresses the Sammamish River's importance as a migratory route for North Lake Washington and Issaquah chinook populations, and recommends increasing channel meanders, levee setbacks, and reconnecting the river to sources of cold, clean groundwater.

Along with WRIA 8, King County is also lead on the WRIA 9 (Green/Duwamish) salmon recovery plan process, is a partner in the WRIA 7 (Snohomish/Snoqualmie) process and participates in planning for two others. The watershed plans for King County will be joined with watershed plans from all of the other watersheds around Puget Sound - from the Elwha to the Nisqually to the Nooksack - under the Shared Strategy's regional plan to form the community-based recovery strategy for chinook throughout Puget Sound.

For more information about the WRIA 8 Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan, visit http://dnr.metrokc.gov/Wrias/8/.