|
WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Project and Program Updates
Happy Holidays and New Year!
It’s been a great year for recovering salmon in WRIA 8, and the WRIA 8 staff team thanks all our partners in protecting and restoring habitat, tackling the challenging issues facing salmon, and improving overall watershed health!
Highlights from 2025:
- Renewed the 10-year Interlocal Agreement among 28 local government partners to continue cost sharing salmon recovery through 2036.
- Hosted The Salmon Recovery Summit: 25 Years of Action with the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum, WRIA 9 Watershed Ecosystem Forum, and King County, to reflect on the origins of the regional salmon recovery partnership, recognize the value of the work accomplished to date, and recommit ourselves to addressing ongoing salmon recovery challenges and meeting recovery goals.
- Successfully managed a robust grant round. WRIA 8 received 37 proposals and allocated just over $6.5 million. These grants support ongoing priority acquisitions, restoration projects, monitoring and assessment efforts, studies, and education and outreach programs.
- Established state and federal legislative priorities, and took action to support priorities in communications and meetings with legislators, members of Congress, and other key state and federal partners.
- Continued work with Long Live the Kings to pursue strategies to lower water temperatures in the Lake Washington Ship Canal and improve salmon health and survival during their migration.
- Completed important technical assessments in preparation of a 5-year Progress Report and upcoming WRIA 8 Plan Update, including a comprehensive survey of large wood in the Cedar River.
- Held a third round of the Project Innovation and Community Grants program, awarding just under $250k to six projects that focus on early stages of project development or community engagement in salmon recovery.
- Coordinated the 19th consecutive year of the Salmon SEEson program to promote opportunities for the public to see salmon returning to spawn in the watershed's streams and rivers.
Wishing all our partners a restful and joyful holiday and New Year!
25 Year Salmon Summit a Resounding Success!
Nearly 150 salmon recovery partners from WRIA 8, Snoqualmie Watershed, and Green/Duwamish Watershed attended The Salmon Recovery Summit: 25 Years of Action on December 10. The Summit reflected on the origins of the salmon recovery partnership in King County watersheds, celebrated the incredible habitat protection and restoration to date, and re-energized partners to address future salmon recovery challenges and opportunities in order to meet our goals.
Salmon SEEson Program Wraps Up
The WRIA 8-led Salmon SEEson program is coming to an end for the 2025 year with salmon having made their way back to rivers and streams to spawn. The Salmon SEEson website provides a map and details for several self-guided viewing locations as well as in-person interpretive viewing opportunities.
This year 18,754 Chinook were estimated to have passed through the Locks, the third highest count in the past 20 years. It is important to note that the majority of returning fish were hatchery fish, and the numbers of salmon predicted by the Ballard Locks counts in recent years have been much higher than the numbers of salmon observed reaching the Issaquah Hatchery and spawning grounds. Unfortunately, this year's sockeye return was the second lowest on record with an estimated 17,881 fish counted at the Locks. The coho return was a bit above average with an estimated 28,150 fish counted passing through the Locks.
Salmon SEEson is coordinated by WRIA 8 with additional sponsorship support from the Saving Water Partnership, the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed (WRIA 9), the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum, and King County.
The King County Flood Warning Center is Here to Help
Severe weather conditions continue to impact WRIA 8 and the Puget Sound region. King County has many services available to help people before, during, and after a flood. The King County Flood Warning Center is staffed at all hours during flood events. Call the Flood Warning Center at 206-296-8200 or 1-800-945-9263 to ask questions about current flood conditions. Interpretation is available.
The King County Flood Warning Center is funded by the King County Flood Control District.
Cities can Grow Without Harming Lakes
A study by King County scientists – recently published in Ecosphere, a national scientific journal from the Ecological Association of America – found surprising improvements in Lake Washington’s water quality between 1998 and 2022. Over those 25 years, spring algae decreased by 50% while summer underwater visibility increased by 3 feet, even as the watershed’s population grew by 350,000 people. Researchers believe that multiple environmental protections likely contributed to the meaningful progress, including stormwater upgrades, erosion controls, transitioning homes from septic systems to the regional sewer system, and many everyday personal actions in the Lake Washington watershed.
Read more and watch a short video about this study.
Help Shape the Future of the Cedar River
King County, as service provider to the King County Flood Control District, is seeking your feedback on the Cedar River Capital Investment Strategy (CIS) update. The purpose of this effort is to reevaluate and reprioritize flood risk reduction projects along the Cedar River. This updated strategy will guide future investments that reduce flood risks, strengthen community resilience, and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout the river corridor.
The Cedar River supports the largest number of natural-origin Chinook salmon in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish (WRIA 8) watershed and is recognized as the highest-priority spawning and rearing area for Chinook.
Contact Monica Walker, Cedar River CIS Project Manager, with any questions.
Community Action Training School Program
Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group’s 2025 Community Action Training School (CATS) had a wonderful group of 27 participants this round. This free, 8-week, continuing education program focuses on the power of collaboration and stewardship across communities and organizations, using salmon as the guide. The program heard from 22 speakers working to improve the health of the watershed and care for the species who call this beautiful place home. They toured restoration sites that ranged in age from a couple weeks to 30 years, witnessing how even in just a short time a restoration site can become a healthy part of the ecosystem. Alongside classes and field trips, participants worked on their Stewardship Action Projects (SAP), either creating a project independently from the ground up, working at Mid Sound restoration sites, or collaborating with a WRIA 8 organization specializing in salmon habitat restoration. This year, SAP partner projects included: developing site monitoring plans, designing green stormwater infrastructure, testing methods for invasive species control, conducting water quality tests, assisting with revegetation projects, and creating community science programming. Thank you to the Carkeek Watershed Community Project, Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park, Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, and Trout Unlimited for providing SAP opportunities for 2025 CATS participants. We had a fantastic time together and are looking forward to welcoming next year’s cohort, September - November 2026.
Holiday Trees for Salmon
Greetings, the holiday season has arrived! To help with coming celebrations, the Adopt A Stream Foundation has kicked off the season with its annual Holiday Trees for Salmon. There will be a great selection of live trees in pots. “After the holidays, plant your tree and you will help out the planet for hundreds of years,” says Adopt A Stream Foundation Director Tom Murdoch. “Or bring your tree back to the Northwest Stream Center and Adopt A Stream Foundation's Stream Team will plant your tree next to a salmon stream in the spring where it will help out salmon for hundreds of years! Both options will provide a great holiday memory.”
Holiday Trees for Salmon will be available Tuesdays through Saturdays through December 23 at the Northwest Stream Center, 600 128 Street SE, Everett, WA 98208
Proceeds from Holiday Trees for Salmon sales benefit the Adopt A Stream Foundation's environmental education and salmon stream restoration programs.
The Greenway Trust is hiring Seasonal Educators, Volunteer Specialists, Restoration Crew Members, and Restoration Crew Co-Leads who want to make an impact!
Educators:
Teach 4th–12th grade students about forest ecosystems, salmon habitat, and watershed health through classroom sessions, field trips, and nature-based stewardship events. Co-lead youth internships focused on restoration ecology, green-career awareness, and environmental justice. Also helps with volunteer and outreach events, and educational programming.
Volunteer Specialists:
Lead and coordinate group volunteer events to restore habitats. Teach volunteers to use tools safely, share ecological knowledge, and track volunteer impact.
Restoration Crew Members/Crew Co-Leaders:
Work on ecological restoration projects as a Restoration Crew Member: survey and control invasive plants, plant native trees and shrubs, collect monitoring data, and maintain restoration sites. Restoration Crew Co-Leaders take on additional responsibility for safety, planning, and supervising the crew.
View the website for more information on positions and how to apply.
Best (or Worst!) Salmon Photos of 2025
Send us your salmon photos from 2025 for a chance to be featured in the 2026 newsletters to come! We’re looking for your best, or worst, salmon photos you took this past year. These can range from stills you got of spawners, groups of fish in the fish ladder, or your truly terrible, blurry salmon photos. We’ve all got them! Send any you would like to share to Renee Leichliter to be featured in an upcoming edition of the newsletter.
To kick us off, we have a blurry photo submitted by Judy Blanco, King County.
Salmon in the News
Nisqually Fall Chinook previously thought extinct found during genetics testing.
Read the full article.(Starts on page 8.)
Grant Opportunities
WRIA 8 2026 Salmon Recovery Grants
The WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council is pleased to announce its annual request for proposals for salmon recovery grant funding through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB)/Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) and King County Flood Control District Cooperative Watershed Management (CWM) programs. Eligible activities (depending on the funding source) include habitat acquisition and restoration projects, outreach and education programs, and monitoring and assessment activities. For a full description of the application process, links to application materials, and other important information, view the WRIA 8 Funding for Salmon Conservation webpage.
Conservation Futures Open Space Acquisition Funding Available — Apply by February 9, 2026
The King County Conservation Futures grant round is open, with applications due on February 9, 2026, for awards of 2027 funding.
Conservation Futures land acquisition grants can help governmental agencies and qualified conservation nonprofits purchase land or easements for open spaces and parks for passive recreation. Grants may help purchase land to be used as urban greenspaces, passive parks, natural areas, restoration sites, forests, community gardens, farms, trails, stormwater parks. Along with acquisition, Conservation Futures grants can fund initial site stabilization costs such as demolition.
Visit the Conservation Futures application webpage for key grant-related information and to regiester for workshops offered in mid-November and early December 2025. Contact Ingrid Lundin with questions.
|
