Smith Island

The Smith Island Estuary Restoration Project will benefit threatened salmon, restore ecological systems, and improve flood control and recreation across the region by:

Removing a historic levee, excavating channel networks, and installing wood placements to improve fish habitat
Constructing a state-of-the-art setback dike, drainage pond and pumping system to protect public and private infrastructure
Protecting a high-pressure natural gas pipeline serving thousands of western Washington homes and businesses

When completed in 2018, this $21 million construction project will:

Restore more than 300 acres of Puget Sound tidal wetland habitat and achieve 25 percent of the region’s ten-year target for estuary restoration
Increase resilience to a changing climate for more than $80 million worth of public infrastructure and private businesses
Support recovery of the threatened multi-million-dollar salmon fishing industry, and help sustain what is the main prey species of the endangered Puget Sound resident orca whale, a Northwest Washington icon

Funding Sources:

Construction is funded from nearly $16 million in state and federal grant programs, almost $3 million in local revenues, and from more than $2 million in compensatory mitigation agreement funds. Federal support is key to leveraging the other state, local and private funding for this project.