Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) Support for Watershed Salmon Habitat Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 9

Salmon Recovery Funding Board Overview

The goal of the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) is to fund the best salmon habitat projects in Washington State. "Best projects" are those that include local priorities and use the best available science. Eligible projects include:

• Restoration,
• Acquisition, and
• Assessment

projects that will benefit salmon and the habitat and ecosystem functions on which they depend.

Funding for the Board comes from state and federal sources.

The SRFB relies on watersheds to evaluate and rank proposed projects on an annual basis before it evaluates the proposals and makes funding decisions. In the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed (WRIA 9), the Steering Committee reviews and rank projects in each annual "round." Beginning with the sixth round (2005-2006), SRFB project proposals have to implement or be congruent with the recommendations of the watershed Salmon Habitat Plan.

Over the first seven rounds, 20 projects in the watershed have received SRFB grants totalling $8.7 million. In addition, a "pre-SRFB" round in 1999, three grants totalling $180,000 were awarded.

In the eighth round, which concluded in December 2007, five watershed projects received $2 million in combined SRFB and Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration grants.

Eighth Round of Funding

In the eighth round (2007) of funding, five projects in the watershed received $1,983,238. The awards were announced by the SRFB on December 19, 2007.

• North Wind’s Weir Intertidal Restoration – $950,000. This grant will contribute to creation of two acres of shallow water resting and rearing habitat in the Duwamish River “transition zone” that is essential for salmon recovery. The Tukwila site, located upstream of the most polluted part of the river, is important because this reach of the estuary provides the appropriate range of salinities for juvenile Chinook to transition from the freshwater of the Green/Duwamish River to the salt water of Puget Sound. The project will be carried out by King County in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan Project DUW-10)

 
• Green River Restoration - $250,000. King County will use this grant to design and permit a restoration project that will improve spawning and rearing habitat on 20 acres of Green River floodplain and 3,000 linear feet of river near Auburn. (WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan Project MG-18)
   
• Point Heyer Shoreline Preservation - $360,000. This grant to King County will fund acquisition of shoreline parcels from willing landowners. Located on the eastern shoreline of Vashon Island, the shoreline near Point Heyer provides high quality habitat for migrating juvenile salmon. (WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan Project NS-17)
   
• Beaconsfield-on-the-Sound Shoreline Restoration – $380,738. This grant will be used to help acquire a quarter-mile stretch of shoreline in Normandy Park. The project involves working with willing landowners to remove unnecessary bulkheads that are not protecting houses and properties. This project will be conducted by the non-profit Cascade Land Conservancy. (WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan Project NS-17)
   
• Riverton Creek Flapgate Removal – $42,500. This grant will fund a feasibility analysis to determine whether two culvert flapgates can be removed to re-connect Riverton Creek and the Duwamish River in Tukwila. Creating a connection will restore full fish access to more than 1,200 feet of stream channel and will provide shelter for juvenile salmons from predators and refuge during high river flows. The City of Tukwila will lead this project. (WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan Project DUW-8)

More information on these projects is available at the Recreation and Conservation Office web site or contact Karen Bergeron, Habitat Projects Coordinator, 206-296-8383.