The practice would still be allowed on the remaining 61,000 miles of streams and rivers in the state. The legislation would limit a practice called motorized suction dredging, barring it from about 11,000 miles of streams and rivers identified as critical habitat for salmon, steelhead and bull trout.

Although the numbers fluctuate, the Sultan River - which feeds the Skykomish and Snohomish rivers - has averaged about 93 steelhead in the last 12 years, according to the PUD’s counts, less than half of its most recent high of 194 in 2008. One of those proposals has passed the state House and is now on the Senate floor awaiting a vote before Friday’s deadline for passage of non-budgetary legislation.Ī recent survey by the Snohomish County Public Utility District on the Sultan River of winter steelhead found just 55 fish, only slightly better than the count in 2018, which showed just 28 fish. But there are other solutions that require action now and can contribute to the health and future of both salmon and orcas. With the final report not expected until this fall, that conversation will continue. While opposed by many, the removal of the dams is supported by others who see that option as one of the most effective ways to rebuild salmon runs, and, at the same time, help the state’s Southern Resident orca whales, which feed almost exclusively on salmon from the state’s rivers, including the Columbia.

The big ideas get the most attention, but they aren’t the only solutions that are required.Ī draft of a long-awaited federal report on a proposal to remove four dams on Washington’s portion of the Snake River to help improve habitat for wild salmon was released last month, with the recommendation to keep the dams but look for other ways to aid salmon.

Washington suction dredge mining