Category Overview
Conserving land along our waterways protects important habitat and helps keep our rivers healthy, clean, and more resilient to drought. Riparian Protection projects conserve and restore fresh and saltwater habitat while protecting fish habitat. In doing so, the grants help provide our families, farms, and fisheries with clean water across the state.
Project Highlights
Restore 3.5 miles of Haskel slough on the Skykomish River for use by juvenile salmonids (coho, spring Chinook and steelhead). A conservation easement will be acquired from several committed landowners along both sides of slough. The downstream end of the slough will be reconnected to the river and the series of beaded ponds reconnected to each other to provided fish passage. The upstream end will remain disconnected from the river other that for subsurface flow. Opening these sections of the slough will provide approx. 3 miles of habitat for juvenile salmonids to use during the low flow summer months and will also be a refuge for juveniles during flood flows in the winter. Juvenile migration will be monitored in the spring with a smolt trap. The project extends from about 1/2 mile downstream of Hwy 203 at Monroe to the natural seep occurring on the slough side of the rip rap bank along the Skykomish River. The project is a partnership with the Stilly-Sno Salmon Enhancement Group, NW Chinook Recovery, Long Live the Kings, and the Tulalip Tribe.