Kilmer, Strickland Announce Nearly $9.5 Million To Improve Fish Habitats in Puyallup River & Wapato Creek
TACOMA, WA – Today, U.S. Representatives Derek Kilmer (WA-06) and Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Co-Chairs of the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus, announced that the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the Port of Tacoma will receive grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to improve fish passage in the South Sound.
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians will receive nearly $7.5 million to help the Tribe remove four fish passage barriers – all of which are culverts – in the Puyallup River to improve instream habitats for fish tributaries. The Port of Tacoma will receive $2 million to rehabilitate the failing Wapato Creek culvert.
The funding announced today was allocated from the FHWA’s Culvert Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) Program, which was championed by Rep. Kilmer and U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest long-term investment in America’s infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century. It is the first federal program devoted entirely to culvert restoration.
“Through these awards, the federal government is moving to restore fish passages and provide critical access to upstream habitat in the South Sound. That’s critically important if we’re going to recover the salmon populations that are so vital to our region’s economy, culture, and way of life,” said Rep. Kilmer. “This effort is a big deal as we work to protect clean water and recover salmon populations in our region.”
“The anadromous fish are an integral part of the South Sound ecosystem,” said Rep. Strickland. “I’m proud to deliver today’s funding to invest in the Puyallup Tribes’ and the Port of Tacoma’s efforts to improve habitats for fish tributaries and make them more accessible to boost the economy of the entire region while investing in long-term sustainability.”
“This project represents our commitment to environmental leadership at the Port of Tacoma as we look to improve habitat for salmon. It will also bring operational benefits for moving cargo at Pierce County Terminal, managed by The Northwest Seaport Alliance. The culvert replacement in Wapato Creek is within the most complicated 300-foot corridor in the area around the Port, and we are grateful to Rep. Kilmer for securing this important funding,” said Port of Tacoma Commission President Deanna Keller.
The AOP grants are part of an announcement by FHWA of $196 million going to 59 Tribal, state, and local governments that will fix or remove 169 culvert barriers to improve fish passage – including over $58 million for 46 projects in Washington state. Outdated culverts and other infrastructure can cause roads to flood and severely restrict or altogether block fish passage, which is key to the health of fish runs and important to commercial and recreational fishing, and the health of Tribal communities. The projects also advance a key pillar of the America the Beautiful Initiative by increasing the ecological connectivity of rivers and streams and creating more climate resiliency in our landscapes and communities.
Grant recipients in the Puget Sound watershed in Washington State will receive almost $45.5 million to reconnect rivers and streams in more than 19 locations, providing safe passage for wild salmon, steelhead, and other fish. Many of these projects will help to increase chinook salmon populations in Puget Sound, which will also assist the Endangered Species Act-listed Southern Resident Killer Whales that make Puget Sound their home and are sacred to Tribal Nations in the region.
“In communities across the country where people depend on fishing for their livelihoods, culverts are vital infrastructure for ensuring fish passage,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Through this investment, we are repairing or removing hundreds of culverts nationwide, protecting jobs, mitigating the risk of flooding, and strengthening local economies.”
The Puyallup Tribes’ project will remove four barriers located on Clear Creek or tributaries of that stream that intersect with the Puyallup River. All are associated with existing culverts under the BNSF Railway. Tributary barriers are located on Swan, Squally, and Canyon creeks. The Fall Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, Chum Salmon, Steelhead Trout, Bull Trout, and other resident trout populations are expected to benefit from the removal of the barriers.
The Port of Tacoma’s project will rehabilitate the failing Wapato Creek culvert that limits aquatic connectivity and threatens Port operations. Currently, fish passage through the culvert is possible only during high tides, restricting anadromous salmonids’ access to upstream habitats. The improved culvert is expected to improve fish accessibility to the habitats where they spawn.
Additional grants to recipients in Washington State include $4.2 million for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe that will be used to replace two complete fish passage barriers on Chicken Coop Creek, in Clallam County, WA. Chicken Coop Creek is the heart of the traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering areas for the S’Klallam People and the project will restore access to 4 miles of spawning and rearing habitat.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kilmer has successfully worked to secure funding for programs that support salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest. Last year, he secured $50 million in federal funding for the Puget Sound Geographic Program, which provides critical grant support to state, local, and Tribal governments to implement projects to improve water quality and enhance fish passage and salmon habitat. The funding increase, which passed the House in July 2022, brought the total federal funding for the program to the highest ever amount and represents an over 30% increase from the previous fiscal year. Additionally, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kilmer has successfully worked to secure key funding increases in NOAA’s budget to help recover salmon stocks and support the commercial, recreational, and Tribal fisheries that depend on them, including funding for the implementation of the newly ratified Pacific Salmon Treaty, funding to support Mitchell Act hatchery activities, and funding to support communities impacted by recent fisheries disasters.
The Puget Sound Recovery Caucus was founded in 2013 by Rep. Kilmer and former Rep. Denny Heck. It is currently co-chaired by Reps. Kilmer and Strickland and focuses on recovering Puget Sound through steps like preventing pollution from urban stormwater runoff, protecting and restoring habitat, and restoring and re-opening shellfish beds.
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