About the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum
The Snoqualmie Watershed Forum is a partnership between the Snoqualmie Tribe, the Tulalip Tribes, King County, the cities of Duvall, Carnation, North Bend and Snoqualmie, and the Town of Skykomish. These partners have entered into an interlocal agreement to work together on watershed issues. Members include elected officials from each of the eight jurisdictions and three citizen representatives, as well as a non-governmental organizations representative and the King Conservation District.
The Snoqualmie Watershed Forum has been successful at fostering collaboration among local governments and providing a place to openly discuss watershed issues. Among its broader activities, the Forum provides a mechanism for coordinating and implementing water resource and habitat projects in the Snoqualmie and South Fork Skykomish Watersheds.
The Snoqualmie Watershed Forum has been an active partner in the Snohomish Basin (WRIA 7) Salmon Recovery Forum since its inception and was a core contributor to the Snohomish Basin Salmon Conservation Plan. Since the Plan’s completion in 2005, the Snoqualmie Forum has coordinated salmon recovery implementation in our portion of the Snohomish Basin which represents about half of the basin land area. The Forum also undertakes a variety of educational and outreach activities aimed at building local stewardship and enhancing on-the-ground partnerships.
Since 1998, the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum has made significant accomplishments in projects to adress salmon recovery, water quality and flooding. In this timeframe the Forum has:
- Allocated over $13.3M to 270 projects, leveraging approximately $38M from other funding sources.
- Organized and supported many volunteer restoration plantings.
- Hosted educational workshops and watershed festivals and used an educational display to expose residents to watershed issues.
- Completed the joint review of local planning policies and regulations and agreed to work on consistent programs across jurisdictions.
- Supported local implementation of the Snohomish Basin Salmon Recovery Plan and subsequent updates.
- Developed project and planning documents.
The Forum works on:
- Supporting the implementation of the Snohomish River Basin Salmon Recovery Plan.
- Making sure the needs and concerns of people in the Watershed are part of long-term planning.
- Funding environmental restoration and protection projects in partnership with the King Conservation District.
- Improving public awareness and involvement in watershed and salmon protection efforts.
- Coordinating regulations and policies across member jurisdictions.
| Position or Affiliation |
|
|---|---|
| Henry Sladek - Chair | Mayor, Town of Skykomish |
| Ryan Miller -Vice Chair | Environmental Liaison, Tulalip Tribes |
| Mark Joselyn | City of North Bend |
| Cindy Spiry | Director, Environment and Natural Resources, Snoqualmie Tribe |
| Rick Shaffer | Councilmember, Duvall |
| Louis Washington | Councilmember, Snoqualmie |
| Sarah Perry | Councilmember, King County |
| Jim Ribail | Mayor, Carnation |
| Kirstin Haugen | Supervisor, King Conservation District |
| Alexis Bauer | Resident, King County Council District 3 |
| Ed Hazen | Resident, Snoqualmie Valley Govt's Association |
| Becky Chaney | Resident, King County Council District 3 |
| Kate Fancher | Non-profit representative, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust |
| Micah Wait (Alternate) | Non-profit representative, Wild Fish Conservancy |
| Ryan Burrell (Alternate) | Councilmember, Carnation |
| Vacant (Alternate) | Councilmember, Duvall |
| Mary Miller (Alternate) | Mayor, North Bend |
| Bryan Holloway (Alternate) | Councilmember, Snoqualmie |
| Libby Hollingshead (Alternate) | King County Council District 3 |
For more information about the Forum, contact Elissa Ostergaard, Snoqualmie Salmon Recovery Manager.
What is a Watershed?
Watersheds are also called Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs).
A watershed is a basin-shaped area that drains to a central point where it enters a river, lake or ocean. It can include groundwater and surface water as well as salt water like Puget Sound. Watersheds can encompass small areas draining to a stream and also be part of much larger areas, spanning multiple counties, like the Snoqualmie/Skykomish Watershed.
How Does Our Watershed Support People and Salmon?
The Snoqualmie Watershed:
- Is the largest and most forested watershed in King County, at nearly 700 square miles.
Supports wild chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon runs, as well as steelhead, rainbow, cutthroat, and bull trout populations.- One of the basins with the highest potential for salmon recovery in Puget Sound; will play a major role in the recovery of chinook, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
- Has one of the largest coho runs in Puget Sound, in Griffin Creek.
- Is mostly rural - approximately 75 percent of the watershed is forested, and most of the floodplain below the falls is in agriculture.
For additional details about the Snoqualmie-Skykomish Watershed, visit the King County Web page.