In 1989, the South King County Chapter of Trout Unlimited sued Tacoma Water, the city of Tacoma’s public utility. Fortunately, this is one of those rare cases where a friendship has evolved out of a lawsuit. Both parties quickly realized it was in their best interest to get along and a valuable partnership was formed.

Until the lawsuit, Tacoma Water did little to help the salmon and steelhead in the Green River. In fact, their water diversion was designed to block salmon, to prevent the accumulation of post-spawn fish carcasses upstream of the municipal water supply pipe.

Salmon are crucial to the ecosystem in the Northwest. Nutrients from the dead fish are important to aquatic life, as well as the surrounding forest. All sorts of animals feed on the salmon carcasses, bringing the nutrients ashore, where even giant old-growth trees benefit from the marine-derived energy.

Today, Tacoma Water is committed to restoring salmon and steelhead runs in the Green. Paul Hickey, Tacoma Water’s Water Resource Planning Coordinator, and Dana Smith, President of the South King TU Chapter, gave me a tour of a few of the many coldwater conservation initiatives in the Green River system.

The most important step towards restoring the salmon runs is getting the fish around the dams. Tacoma Water and the Army Corps of Engineers are in the process of constructing a fish bypass system that will open 100 miles of upstream spawning habitat to Chinook and coho salmon, as well as steelhead (ocean-run rainbow trout). To do this, the fish will need to pass Tacoma Water’s dam as well as the Army Corps’ Howard Hanson Dam, a large flood control structure located just upstream.

The only way to get adult salmon around both of these obstructions is to load them into trucks and drive them to the upstream side of the Army Corps dam. The returning adult steelhead (unlike salmon, many steelhead survive the spawning run) and the juvenile steelhead and salmon will also need to be loaded into trucks and delivered to the ocean side of the dams.

While it may sound simple, Tacoma Water and the Army Corps of Engineers are investing a lot of money in state-of-the-art fish capture stations, to ensure the safe handling of the salmon and the overall success of the effort. Tacoma Water’s station has already been completed and Paul showed me how it works.

Here is the simplified explanation: The adult salmon are lead into a fish ladder, where they climb a series of waterfalls and rest pools to a chute. One at a time, the fish slide through the chute into a loading tank. The entire tank is then picked up and put on a truck and the fish are driven upstream.

The Tacoma Water fish station also facilitates the downstream passage of juvenile salmon smolts. The smolts are screened out of the water supply pipe on the upstream side of the diversion. They are then run through a pipe and trough network that resembles that kid’s game “Mousetrap” before they take a 10-15 foot plunge over a specially designed waterfall, safely re-uniting them with their natal river.

Paul is anxiously awaiting the passage of the first wild salmon; however, Tacoma Water must wait for the Army Corps to finish their structure. After all, it doesn’t make much sense to move the fish upstream if there is no way for their offspring to make it back down. Hopefully, the Howard Hanson Dam fish bypass will be completed in 2009.

We visited the construction site at the Howard Hanson Dam where Tom Wilkin and Mel Lathan, two of the Army Corps’ Quality Assurance personnel, described their side of the project. From the rim of the dam, Tom and Mel pointed into the abyss of the construction site, describing where the fish transfer station will soon be built. I know these things can go up fast, but it was hard for me to imagine the final product while looking into the massive gap beside the dam.

In the meantime, both Tacoma Water and the Army Corps are doing what they can to improve the upstream habitat, so the stream will be ready once the salmon arrive. Paul, Mel, and Tom proudly described the habitat work much like expectant parents show off a pastel colored room outfitted with a new crib. Both organizations are placing large woody debris (a.k.a. logs) to create juvenile salmon rearing habitat. Tacoma Water is also replacing road culverts with bridges, re-opening small tributaries to salmon passage.

In addition to improving the upstream habitat, Tacoma Water and the Army Corps are working on the habitat below the dams. Dams not only block salmon, they also impede the movement of logs and gravel. Large woody debris creates pools and provides overhead cover for trout and salmon of all sizes. It also traps nutrients in the system, increasing the productivity of the entire food chain. Placing woody debris downstream from the dams helps mitigate the negative effects of these structures.

Behind the wood, they deposit large loads of gravel. The dams also block the movement of the substrate, reducing the accumulation of the fine rock that salmon and trout require for spawning. By improving the spawning and rearing habitat below the dams, everyone is hoping to increase the number of fish that might someday take the drive around the obstructions.

Why are these projects receiving so much support from city and federal agencies, non-profits including TU, and the general public? As Dana Smith puts it, “Salmon and steelhead are a large part of the culture of the Northwest.” Salmon are important economically, recreationally, and even socially. We can’t take back the mistakes of the past, but by restoring these magnificent creatures to the upper Green River and other waters, we can improve the future for both humans and the environment.

Please take a look at my photos by clicking HERE.