By Jeff Laufle, First VP
On Thursday August 12, 2021, the fish passage coordinator for King County reached out to me to invite TCA to provide input in choosing a fish passage barrier that could be used for a media event by Senator Maria Cantwell, along with US Representative Derek Kilmer, the following Monday. The impetus was the federal infrastructure package currently working its way through Congress. The US Senate’s version of the $1 trillion package includes $1 billion to remove poorly designed culverts that create obstacles for fish nationwide. Authored by Sen Cantwell, the culvert fix provision in the bill would help open up fish habitat in our state, and with any luck, in our watershed.
After discussion with TCA President Dan Keefe, I accepted King County’s invitation on behalf of TCA and took some photos of locations that might be possible examples of a fish passage barrier. Our recommended options needed to be clear barriers with easy access and nearby parking for several visitors. Those criteria proved difficult to meet, and after a set of site visits on Friday Aug 13 with staff from Sen Cantwell’s Seattle office, King County and Seattle Public Utilities, a culvert barrier in Carkeek Park, outside of the Thornton Creek watershed, was selected for the event.
But the fact that we were sought out for our input is evidence of TCA’s continued good reputation and credibility among local governments. This is not the first time this has happened regarding fish barriers; in 2020 the Washington Department of Transportation contacted me as TCA president for advice as well, which led to a good conversation about barrier removal priorities.
The Thornton Creek basin does have fish barriers, and they are being addressed as funding becomes available to State, County and City jurisdictions in Washington, in response to the court decisions (US District Court of Washington injunction, 2007, upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2016) mandating removal of salmon migration barriers in Washington by 2030.
A major issue in deciding what barriers to address, and when, is bang for the buck. In the best case, we’d remove the worst barriers first, starting downstream and moving upstream, with emphasis on opening up the most habitat. In reality, an upstream jurisdiction may have a funding opportunity before a downstream jurisdiction is able to act; the funding availability will affect what gets done in what order.
Ultimately in an ideal world, all artificial fish blockages would be removed, even for species other than salmon. That takes time, political push, and dollars. TCA will continue to advocate for taking advantage of opportunities for barrier removal, but we will also strongly consider priorities when the question comes up.
The fish barrier provision in the infrastructure bill, if it is ultimately signed into law following consideration in the House of Representatives, would authorize the Federal government to appropriate funds to fix barriers, but it doesn’t actually provide the money. Funding appropriations are authorized separately each year by Congress. But it’s a step in the right direction. We’ll see what happens.
To learn more about US District Court of Washington injunction, 2007, upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2016, mandating removal of salmon migration barriers in Washington by 2030, see the “Culvert case subproceeding” section of the Wikipedia article on United States v. Washington.
Perched culvert outlet on Victory Creek, tributary to the South Fork of Thornton Creek, at 108th Ave NE. Culvert outlet has no pool below it from which fish may jump to enter the culvert. Exposed rough edges along the metal pipe are a clear danger to fish.
