How Highway Projects Impact Salmon Restoration Funding In Washington

In my wildest imagination, I would never have thought that I could link. Salmon habitat with Washington State highway construction, but here we are. 

According to seattletimes.com,
‘Another billion dollars of highway construction to restore salmon habitat will likely be coming to Western Washington over the next six years.
The state Legislature approved an additional $1.1 billion for court-ordered Department of Transportation culvert replacement projects, bringing the program’s roughly two-decade total to $5.2 billion.’ 

Now, that sounds like a lot of money, and it really is, especially when you consider Washington state's profound budget issues for the next four years. At least for now, Governor Bob Ferguson is in favor of this allocation of funds.  

There's another player in this game and that's the Washington State Tribal Nations who are very concerned about salmon habitat. Especially as it relates to a tribal fishing rights case that's pending right now and could impact the final total price tag of salmon habitat rehabilitation. 

A senate proposal was made that would allocate a $5 billion fund never made it out of committee due to opposition from Governor Ferguson and others, and a compromise was struck. The transportation budget at about 15.4 billion for the 2025 to 2027 biennium. 120 million of that money would be set aside to replace problematic culverts blocking salmon runs. 

This is important to keep in mind because back in 2013, 21 tribal nations sued to replace those problem culverts and won the case with the judge ordering the state to replace those culverts by 2030. That decision was upheld in the U.S. supreme court. 

Delays, Cost overruns, and lack of funding seem to be the biggest problems, and it's only going to get more expensive.
WA lawmakers approve $1.1B for salmon habitat restoration | The Seattle Times
WA’s costly salmon recovery effort heads toward mediation | The Seattle Times
Massive WA salmon recovery plan scrutinized with latest $100M project | The Seattle Times