Summary

Creating a new basin steward position to guide and oversee habitat protection and restoration work in the Duwamish River gives the waterway a strong advocate for advancing salmon recovery work benefitting people, salmon, and orcas as well as the health of the Green-Duwamish Watershed.

Story

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King County Basin Stewards Map

King County – in partnership with the Port of Seattle, City of Tukwila, and City of Seattle – has created a new basin steward position dedicated to the Duwamish River to enhance habitat protection and restoration projects in the critically important watershed and to improve service delivery in unincorporated Skyway and North Highline.

Alicia Kellogg will join a team of six existing basin stewards who guide habitat protection and restoration work in King County’s major river basins and Vashon-Maury Island. The basin stewards are familiar with the land and community needs, working with landowners and other agencies to improve ecological functions for people, fish, and wildlife.

Creating the new basin steward position for the Duwamish River recognizes the decades of disproportionate impacts that the watershed’s residents have endured and will better align the multi-agency efforts along the industrialized river corridor.

“Bringing on a basin steward dedicated to the Duwamish River will strengthen our combined efforts to restore habitat for vibrant communities along the river and the native salmon that provide nourishment for Puget Sound orcas,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “By better aligning the efforts of multiple agencies and partnering with local communities, we can build on the progress we have made upstream in the Green-Duwamish Watershed.”

“Salmon is vital to the health, economies, and identity of many communities in our region,” said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. “This steward position dedicated to the health of the Duwamish River will strengthen our collective efforts to ensure critical salmon habitat is protected and that we make progress undoing decades of pollution and environmental injustice in the surrounding communities who call this place home. We are proud to partner with King County, the Port of Seattle, and City of Tukwila to restore and enhance this watershed.”

The Duwamish River serves as the nursery for juvenile salmon hatched miles upstream in the Green River and its tributaries. The final few miles of the Duwamish, where the river mixes with Puget Sound saltwater, is where young salmon adapt to life in a marine environment. Estuaries provide food for juvenile salmon and refuge from predators, allowing young fish to grow larger before entering Puget Sound, significantly increasing the odds of their survival and eventual return as adults to the spawning grounds as they complete their lifecycle.

King County has made progress in restoring Duwamish River habitat, including the recently completed Chinook Wind Mitigation Project that resulted in nearly 6 acres of high-quality habitat. The Solid Waste Division last year removed nearly 2,000 toxic-coated pilings from the mouth of the Duwamish River. The Wastewater Treatment Division recently began operating a state-of-the-art treatment station in Georgetown that better protects the Duwamish River during heavy rainfall. 

The Port of Seattle’s long-term commitment to restoring habitat in the Duwamish River includes the recent completion of Duwamish River People's Park and Shoreline Habitat, a 14-acre park that was once an old Superfund site that has been cleaned and converted into a welcoming public space featuring excellent shoreline habitat, access to the water, and a small boat launch. The Port of Seattle's cleanup of the landscape exceeded federal requirements, clearing the way for enhanced public use and improved fish and wildlife habitat.

Adding the new basin steward position will help advance the larger collective vision of partners to restore salmon habitat up and down the Duwamish River as a “string of pearls” that provides juvenile salmon places of refuge during their downstream migration. Other sites include Herring’s House, Cecil Moses, North Wind Wier, Riverton Creek, and Duwamish Gardens.

“Having a salmon steward responsible for the lower Duwamish Waterway provides critical support to the many communities, agencies, and tribal governments that have been dedicated to restoring salmon and all those dependent on the entire river system for many years,” said Seattle Port Commissioner Fred Felleman. “The Port of Seattle is proud to join King County, as well as the cities of Seattle and Tukwila in funding this position which reflects our commitment to collaborate for the benefit of people and the planet.”

"It is exciting to bring on the new Duwamish basin steward to represent and help restore this underserved watershed area, and interface with its river communities while assisting in salmon recovery and environmental stewardship, all of which has been a long-time coming need. It is great to see this role commencing,” said Tukwila Mayor Allan Eckberg.

The Duwamish River is located within the Water Resource Inventory Area 9, known as WRIA 9, which is defined as the area that drains to the Green-Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed. The partnership oversees implementation of the watershed’s Salmon Habitat Plan and includes representatives from the 17 local governments as well as other local, state, and federal partners that work within the watershed.

“I’m thrilled that the new Duwamish basin steward is hired and starting work. Salmon recovery is critically important in the Duwamish Basin,” said Lisa Herbold, Seattle City Councilmember and Co-Chair of the WRIA 9 Watershed Ecosystem Forum. “This steward will advance the community engagement necessary to get on-the-ground projects completed. As the Councilmember representing the South Park neighborhood and as a Co-Chair of the WRIA 9 Watershed Ecosystem Forum, this position has been a priority for me. The Duwamish Basin is at the forefront of environmental justice needs and we have much work to do together.”

The position is jointly funded by King County’s Water and Land Resources Division, the Port of Seattle, City of Tukwila, and City of Seattle.

Relevant links

• King County Basin Stewards
• Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed: WRIA 9
• VIDEO: New station will better protect Puget Sound during rainstorms
• VIDEO: Building wetlands to sustain salmon in the Duwamish River
• Chinook Wind Mitigation Project on the Duwamish River
• Removing nearly 2,000 toxic-coated pilings from Harbor Island shoreline
• TRACKS: An interactive map of King County's environmental stewardship

Quotes

Bringing on a basin steward dedicated to the Duwamish River will strengthen our combined efforts to restore habitat for vibrant communities along the river and the native salmon that provide nourishment for Puget Sound orcas. By better aligning the efforts of multiple agencies and partnering with local communities, we can build on the progress we have made upstream in the Green-Duwamish Watershed.

Salmon is vital to the health, economies, and identity of many communities in our region. This steward position dedicated to the health of the Duwamish River will strengthen our collective efforts to ensure critical salmon habitat is protected and that we make progress undoing decades of pollution and environmental injustice in the surrounding communities who call this place home. We are proud to partner with King County, the Port of Seattle, and City of Tukwila to restore and enhance this watershed.

Having a salmon steward responsible for the lower Duwamish Waterway provides critical support to the many communities, agencies, and tribal governments that have been dedicated to restoring salmon and all those dependent on the entire river system for many years. The Port of Seattle is proud to join King County, as well as the cities of Seattle and Tukwila in funding this position which reflects our commitment to collaborate for the benefit of people and the planet.

I’m thrilled that the new Duwamish basin steward is hired and starting work. Salmon recovery is critically important in the Duwamish Basin. This steward will advance the community engagement necessary to get on the ground projects completed. As the Councilmember representing the South Park neighborhood and a Co-Chair of the WRIA 9 Watershed Ecosystem Forum, this position has been a priority for me. The Duwamish Basin is at the forefront of environmental justice needs and we have much work to do together.

It is exciting to bring on the new Duwamish River Basin Steward to represent and help restore this underserved watershed area, and interface with its river communities while assisting in salmon recovery and environmental stewardship, all of which has been a long-time coming need. It is great to see this role commencing.

For more information, contact:

Saffa Bardaro, Water and Land Resources Division, 206-477-4610