The Lower Dungeness River Floodplain Restoration project is a collaborative effort to restore floodplain habitats, keep people safe, support agriculture, improve water quality and quantity, and provide people with recreational access.
State and federally funded actions include the following:
- Purchase of at-risk properties and set back of levees and roads to give the river more room while also keeping people safe—about 370 acres of land acquisition and levee setbacks are underway or have been completed.
- Reconstruction of a flood-damaged, recreational rail-to-trails river bridge used by 100,000 people per year. The project included removing toxic creosote-coated pilings and replacing them with concrete pilings. The new bridge leaves more room for river channels to shift without damaging the structure.
- Upgrading of irrigation systems to provide water security for farmers and ensure enough water in the river to support healthy habitat for fish.
Funding Sources:
- Washington State Department of Transportation
- Floodplains by Design (initiated with a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
- Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration Fund
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Salmon Recovery Funding Board
Congressional District: 6
Partners:
- Local citizens and landowners
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
- Clallam Conservation District
- North Olympic Salmon Coalition
- North Olympic Land Trust
- Washington State Department of Ecology
- North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity for Salmon
Photo credits: John Gussman (featured photo), Julie Morse, The Nature Conservancy