Washington State is stepping up to the plate and putting its money where its mouth is. The legislature passed a new state budget that will guide spending for the next two years and work to fund protections for the 75 southern resident orcas that are left. One of the top priorities for the legislature and Governor Inslee this year was preventing the orcas’ extinction and they acted boldly by passing four bills aimed at addressing the major threats to orcas: a lack of prey, toxic pollution, disturbance from vessel noise, and the risk of an oil spill. All of these bills are extremely important in recovering our southern residents, but they all require funding.

For years, Washington has underfunded the programs and agencies aimed at recovering and protecting wildlife. Fortunately, the new budget passed by the state takes several steps in the right direction for orcas and salmon. It wasn’t perfect, but if the state builds on these investments over the long-run, Washington can make serious progress on orca recovery. Here are the highlights:

The state will be taking a much harder look at the impact of dams.

European colonization of the Pacific Northwest was made possible by dams. These giant structures provided cheap energy, made it easier to navigate rivers, and irrigated crops. But they also choke rivers, altering natural processes and impacting wildlife like salmon. While salmon passage has improved at many dams with the installation of fish ladders and spillways, both adult and juvenile salmon continue to struggle passing these barriers. Dam removal has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to recover salmon. With the new budget, the state will be taking a harder look at dams and the impact they have on salmon.

Fishing Bonneville Dam Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (Photo by USFS)

One of the major habitat restoration projects funded this year was the removal of a dam on the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River, an important chinook salmon river in the Salish Sea. The budget will also support a stakeholder forum to develop a transition plan for the state if the four lower Snake River dams are removed. Removal of these four dams is a federal decision, and federal agencies are currently developing plans that would include the removal of these dams. If the government decides to remove these dams, it will be important for communities who rely on these dams that there be a plan in place to replace the services these dams currently provide. In the meantime, the state also provided funding for the Department of Ecology to increase the state’s total dissolved gas (TDG) standards to 125%. This change will allow existing dams on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers to spill more water over the top, which greatly increases the survival of juvenile salmon making their way to the ocean. The budget also gave the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) funds to develop rules to enforce the Fishways, Flows, and Screens law. Under state law, water diversion projects and dams are required to have these structures to protect salmon and other wildlife. If these aren’t in place, WDFW has the authority to issue citations requiring compliance. WDFW also got funds so they can identify barriers most impacting salmon runs orcas rely on and prioritize them for mitigation. Given limited resources and the alarming decline of the southern residents, it’s critical that the state remove the barriers that will benefit the orcas first.

Looking down the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River from Park Butte Lookout, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. (Photo by USFS)

Salmon habitat restoration got a boost, but more is needed.

For years, salmon habitat protection and restoration projects have been sorely underfunded. The funding needs are great, and while the state didn’t fully funded salmon recovery this year, it took a big step in the right direction.

One of the most important programs to restore habitat in the Salish Sea is the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) fund. This program provides funding for large-scale estuary restoration projects aimed at recovering salmon. When Governor Inslee announced his budget for orca recovery, it only would have funded one of the 11 priority PSAR projects. Both the House and the Senate dug deeper, each chamber providing funding for two of PSAR’s projects. In the end, the state gave PSAR almost $50 million, the second largest appropriation in the program’s history, which funds PSAR’s top three projects: one to remove a dam on the middle fork of the Nooksack River, and two others to restore floodplain habitat on both the Cedar and Dungeness Rivers. While we ended up with more money for PSAR than we initially though we would get, there are still eight large-scale, shovel, ready, and federally-approved projects that will not get funding this year. The Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project (PSNERP) received $7.8 million to match federal dollars that will fund major habitat restoration projects in the Duckabush Estuary, North Fork Skagit River Delta, and Nooksack River Delta. The Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program (ESRP) also received $10 million to provide grants to local partners working to protect and restore nearshore ecosystems throughout Puget Sound. The Salmon Recovery Funding (SRF Board) received $25 million, which will be matched dollar for dollar with federal funds. This provides $50 million total for salmon recovery programs. While this is a large investment, the total need for SRF Board projects is $90 million. WDFW also received funding to enforce the new shoreline armoring law and to increase the review of shoreline armoring proposals to protect nearshore habitat, which is where young salmon grow and mature.

There’s funding to deal with predators, just not the ones you’re thinking of.

Southern resident orcas aren’t the only ones who eat salmon. Over 100 species rely on salmon (at one point of their life) as a major source of food. With declining salmon runs, there is fewer food to go around. Because of this, the Orca Task Force and politicians throughout the state called for more efforts to reduce other salmon-predators. While seals and sea lions grabbed several headlines this last year, the legislature decided to focus instead on combatting another salmon-predator.

This past year, many people throughout the northwest blamed declining salmon numbers on seals and sea lions (collectively called pinnipeds). But there is no evidence that culling pinnipeds helps recover salmon (in fact, most lethal control of predators like bears, wolves, and cougars exacerbates problems). Fortunately, the state declined to spend its limited dollars to develop plans to kill these native predators. Instead of targeting a native predator, the state is increasing efforts to remove invasive fish that eat juvenile salmon. The habitat created by dams is perfect habitat for invasive salmon-predators like bass, catfish, and northern pikeminnow that like slow, warm water. Fortunately, the state passed legislation that increased catch limits for these invasive fish (so anglers can aid in removal efforts). WDFW also got additional funding to reduce populations of these invasive fish.

Pollution prevention and clean up gets funded.

Southern resident orcas are one of the most polluted marine mammals in the world, and pollution destroys habitat salmon need to grow and survive. By reducing pollution entering our waters, we can increase both the quantity and quality of salmon available to the orcas.