Kilmer Announces Major Infrastructure Investment to Reconnect Wapato Creek with Puget Sound
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) announced that the Northwest Seaport Alliance will receive $24.5 million in federal funding from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program to replace the failing Wapato Creek Culvert, which currently presents a significant barrier to aquatic connectivity between Puget Sound and Wapato Creek.
“In our region, deteriorating infrastructure and failing culverts have long hurt water quality and have threatened the salmon that are so important to our economy and identity,” said Rep. Kilmer. “But today we have good news. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are making a historic investment to restore fish passages and provide critical access to upstream habitat, while protecting the critical infrastructure of the local port. Having the federal government invest in these efforts – rather than costs solely being borne by local taxpayers – is a big deal.”
Running through the Puyallup River Valley, Wapato Creek provides a critical habitat for a wide variety of plants and wildlife, including species of endangered salmon with the culvert conveying creek and tidal waters beneath the Pierce County Terminal to an outlet on the Blair Waterway. Fish passage through the culvert is only possible during high tides, which restricts anadromous salmonids’ access to upstream habitat. This new federal investment will enable the Northwest Seaport Alliance to restore fish access to upstream habitat including the new habitat site at Lower Wapato Creek completed by the Port of Tacoma in collaboration with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.
Wapato Creek also bisects the cargo terminal at the Port of Tacoma, threatening to disrupt international marine terminal operations at the port. This federal funding will allow the Northwest Seaport Alliance to make critical improvements that will mitigate the potential for upstream flooding and decrease the risk of damage to critical infrastructure and port properties. These improvements are critical to the transportation infrastructure of the region and will make it more resilient to climate change and extreme weather events.
In August, Rep. Kilmer wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to strongly support the “Wapato Creek Connect: 300 Feet of Critical Infrastructure” project.
“This grant boosts our local infrastructure and helps our regional agriculture exports by replacing a failing culvert and restoring fish and water passage through Wapato Creek,” said Rep. Marilyn Strickland. “It is critical that the South Sound is supported through federal funding.”
"The Northwest Seaport Alliance is grateful to Congressman Kilmer for his efforts to secure $24.5 million of funding to replace the failing Wapato Creek culvert,” said Kristin Ang, Port of Tacoma Commission President, and Co-Chair of the Northwest Seaport Alliance. “The infrastructure improvements will ensure import and export cargo can access marine terminals the Tacoma Harbor while improving coastal resilience and fish passage.”
“The replacement of the failing Wapato Creek culvert will ensure continued marine cargo operations and reduce coastal flooding risks to critical freight corridors in Pierce County,” said Hamdi Mohamed, Port of Seattle Commission President, and Co-Chair of the Northwest Seaport Alliance. “We appreciate Congressman Kilmer for his support of this project which combines key infrastructure enhancement with important flood risk mitigation and habitat improvements.”
Established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program provides funding to ensure surface transportation resilience to natural hazards including climate change, sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters through support of planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure. The PROTECT program provides $1.4 billion in funding over 5 years and offers two types of funding awards: planning grants and Competitive Resilience Improvement grants.
For Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorized a combined total of $500 million in federal funding. Looking ahead, a combined total of $900 million in federal funds will be available through the Fiscal Year 2024, 2025, and 2026 funding opportunities. More information on future cycles of the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program can be found here.
# # #