Investing in Healthier Watersheds - King County Flood Control District

By Steven Schauer, Deputy Executive Director

Flood Control District Awards $12.2 Million in 2025 CWM Grants

The King County Flood Control District (KCFCD) is proud to announce the successful allocation of over $12.2 million in grant funding through its 2025 Cooperative Watershed Management (CWM) Grant Program. This essential investment will support dozens of habitat restoration, salmon recovery, and water quality improvement projects across the region’s critical watersheds.

Now in its 13^th year, the CWM Grant Program remains a vital tool for advancing locally led, scientifically grounded watershed restoration efforts. In 2025, the program received 99 project applications totaling more than $21.5 million, far exceeding available funds and demonstrating both the need and enthusiasm for environmental restoration work throughout King County.

A Shared Commitment to Communities, Salmon, and Water

After rigorous review by technical committees and local advisory groups, the KCFCD Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Resolution FCD2025-07, authorizing grant awards in four Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs). The grants, which serve as a financial foundation for the four Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) in King County, will support projects and activities in the King County portions of the WRIAs, including:

WRIA 7 Snoqualmie/Skykomish Watershed Forum: Twenty-five applications were received totaling $3,946,189, which is $1,424,767 over its 2025 allocation. Eight applications were denied funding, twelve projects were recommended for full funding, and five projects for partial funding, totaling $2,521,422.

WRIA 8 Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed Salmon Recovery Council: Thirty-five applications were received totaling $5,161,008, which is $629,989 over its 2025 allocation. Six applications were denied, twenty-six projects were recommended for full funding, three projects for partial funding, totaling $4,531,019.

WRIA 9 Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed Ecosystem Forum: Thirty-six applications were received totaling $11,739,694, which is $7,129,860 over its 2025 allocation. Five applications were denied, twenty projects were recommended for full funding, eleven projects for partial funding, totaling $4,609,834.

WRIA 10 Puyallup-White Watershed Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) & Puyallup and Chambers Salmon Recovery Lead Entity: Three applications were received for $669,862, which is $67,544 over its 2025 allocation. Two projects were recommended for full funding and one project for partial funding, totaling $602,318.

Each WRIA submitted a set of carefully vetted recommendations that reflect local priorities and ecological needs. The funding will help support dozens of on-the-ground projects — from removing barriers to fish passage and reforesting riverbanks, to enhancing floodplain habitats and improving water quality.

Building on a Legacy of Stewardship

“These projects represent our collective commitment to healthy ecosystems and vibrant communities,” said KCFCD Executive Director Michelle Clark. “We’re honored to support so many passionate, skilled partners working to restore and protect King County’s natural heritage.”

Since doubling the program’s budget in 2020, the KCFCD now contributes 70–80% of the secured funds for WRIA restoration efforts each year. The 2025 awards build on this strong foundation, continuing the KCFCD’s role as a leading funder of habitat and water quality projects in the Puget Sound region.

In total, $12,264,593 was allocated in the 2025 CWM grant program, which is being leveraged with an additional $4,812,471 for projects spread across King County in each of the nine council districts. The list below contains the name of the Project Sponsor, 2025 grant amount received, and a short description of the project, listed by council district.

2025 CWM Grant Program Funding

District 1

Supervisor Rod Dembowski (District 1) praised the robust regional collaboration:

“The CWM Grant Program ensures that local voices are driving restoration solutions. This funding will go directly into projects that protect our rivers and streams in North King County and beyond.”

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $95,437

Use a shoreline prioritization map to identify properties that qualify for high-impact, low-cost restoration projects. Engagement will include mailings, workshops, and site visits. Technical assistance will be provided for one property owner for either the installation of native vegetation according to a planting plan or 30% design and permitting plans for shoreline softening.

WRIA 8 – Whale Scout: $20,263

Restore a section of Valhalla Creek on a private parcel. This project will benefit salmon through improving high suspended sediment loads previously documented by the City of Bothell and will support the success of the downstream Waynita/Sammamish River project at the former Wayne Golf Course.

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $50,496

Myxozoan parasites are distributed throughout the WRIA 8 watershed, and they cause severe infection in Chinook salmon. The project will develop a standardized protocol for monitoring myxozoan parasite abundance at sentinel sites using surveys of eDNA. Monitoring parasite abundance will provide timely information on disease risks as Chinook salmon migrate through the watershed.

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $51,556

This study will assess the impacts of American shad on the Lake Washington food web including direct and indirect impacts to Chinook and sockeye salmon. Samples will be collected through a variety of collaborations and information maximized by strategic subsampling of individuals (i.e., location, size, timing) and multiple analyses per individual (i.e., otoliths, scales, diets, stable isotopes).

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $101,131

Monitor 6PPD-Q across sites in the Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington watersheds to assess the occurrence, distribution, and seasonal variability of 6PPD-Q, and salmonid exposure. As part of a larger, regional monitoring effort, the data will provide critical information to guide stormwater management and salmon recovery strategies.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $64,479

The “Forests and Fins” program includes a 4th-12th grade curriculum that builds support and promotes behavior changes critical to long-term salmon recovery efforts in WRIA 8. Through this program, five hundred students will evaluate the health of Issaquah Creek and do riparian restoration that contributes to larger habitat restoration efforts.

WRIA 8 – Whale Scout: $37,794

The “Seeds to Sky” after-school program will engage 50 local high school students for ten weeks learning and restoring riparian habitat along the Sammamish River at a former Golf Course in the City of Bothell. Of these students, 66% will be underrepresented in the field. Outcomes include stewardship of fish habitat and more equitable career training in environmental conservation, reversing historical trends in the field.

District 2

Supervisor Girmay Zahilay (District 2) emphasized the equity of the grant program:

“Communities of color and low-income neighborhoods often bear the brunt of environmental degradation. These grants help create more equitable access to clean water and healthy ecosystems throughout King County. And by investing in historically underserved areas, we ensure all residents can thrive in their neighborhoods. These grants support the long-term resilience, health, and sustainability of our region.”

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $95,437

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $37,000

Partner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to assess riparian restoration opportunities at USACE-managed properties between Lake Union and Puget Sound along the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $101,480

Quantify surface and subsurface artificial light at night (ALAN) in Lake Union and Salmon Bay, identify areas of high predation risk, and gain insight into smolt holding behavior in these areas. Multiple mitigation scenarios will be run on the dataset to demonstrate the outcome of local lighting changes. This will help inform next steps for management in sensibly reducing ALAN.

WRIA 8 – University of Washington: $153,915

Conduct a field experiment manipulating artificial light at (ALAN) along residential shorelines to evaluate if and how modifying residential ALAN influences predation on juvenile salmon in south Lake Washington, and how microhabitats (e.g., pocket beaches) along shorelines interact with changes to residential lighting to influence predator/prey dynamics.

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $50,496

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $51,556

WRIA 8 – Long Live the Kings: $38,104

Prepare 3-D hydrodynamic modeling output files for an important review from the U.S. Army Corps Seattle District and Engineer Research and Development Center. This review will be an initial step to generate community consensus on appropriate tools to predict water quality changes that can also be used as a basis for fish behavior modeling.

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $46,634

Develop a community science monitoring pilot program to measure artificial light at night (ALAN) along south Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and the Ship Canal. The data collected will be used to advance ALAN research, influence municipalities to adopt lighting ordinances, and encourage residents to embrace salmon-friendly behavior.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $75,000

This project builds on the partnership between the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, ECOSS, and WRIA 8 to expand community engagement, capacity building, and advocacy in salmon recovery, and will deepen BIPOC community involvement through hands-on activities, cultural storytelling, and environmental leadership opportunities while addressing barriers to participation.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $64,479

WRIA 9 – City of Tukwila: $618,324

Complete the final design and construction phases. The project site lies between the WRIA 9-funded Duwamish Gardens, and the recently completed Chinook Wind Mitigation Project (RM 6.8). We expect to complete the “missing link” in this unique estuarine “blue belt”, by creating complimentary off-channel habitat that will be utilized by juvenile Chinook, expanding their critically needed transition zone habitat and contributing to species recovery efforts. While the primary purpose of the project is to provide rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon, the addition of this habitat will benefit multiple species. This grant will advance the design to final.

WRIA 9 – Environmental Science Center: $54,000

Use experiential learning techniques to increase awareness of watershed and salmon environmental issues for WRIA 9 students, teachers, and the public. Through a combination of in-school field study programs and free community outreach programs, ESC will address both Education and Stewardship policies 1 and 2 listed in the WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan 2021 Update. ESC’s in-school field study programs – Salmon Heroes and Beach Heroes – will reach over 3,200 youth annually in grades K-8 with multi-part lessons designed to get students outside at a spawning salmon stream or a low-tide beach (9,600 students over three years). A related annual teacher workshop series for 20-25 teachers will help enhance teacher participation in the Salmon Heroes program, increase their comfort in taking students outdoors, and assist with their student-led environmental action projects on school campuses.

WRIA 9 – Nature Vision: $21,054

Support Nature Vision’s educational programming, including restoration field trips and community science projects. Six classes of 3rd-12th grade students will become “Blue Teams” by completing an education-based action project and participating in data collection that aims to improve salmon habitat and water quality. We work with each class to create engaging curriculum adapted to their grade level, interest, and learning standards. Our program connects salmon conservation to basic hydrology, watershed science, water quality, and riparian ecosystem biodiversity. Students participate in riparian habitat restoration to benefit salmon and watershed processes and will be trained to collect quantitative data for the Sno-King multi-year database. They will analyze real-world data to conduct student-driven research projects and have discussions about best management practices for local ecosystems.

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,900

Help support the operation of a smolt trap to capture downstream migrating juvenile salmonids in the Green River, an ongoing monitoring project that has provided essential abundance, productivity, and life history diversity data on salmonids, including ESA-listed Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. A smolt trap at river mile 34.5 will capture a portion of the juvenile salmonids migrating downstream. We will release marked fish above the trap to estimate the capture efficiency, which will be used to estimate the true number of out-migrating fish. Abundance estimates will be used in forecasting future adult runs, and to estimate egg to migrant survival estimates. We also obtain information on life history diversity, including juvenile migration timing, body size, and age structure.

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

Support implementation of projects and programs in the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound watershed including development of project funding strategies, technical support for project development and grant applications, solicitation of new projects, program tracking and measurement, and status and trends monitoring work. These are critical for habitat restoration project implementation.

District 3

King County Flood Control District Vice-Chair Sarah Perry (District 3) added, “Many of the cities and towns in my district rely on our local rivers and streams for their livelihoods, recreation, and community identity. By preserving our local ecosystems, these investments recognize that the health of our rivers and our communities goes hand in hand.”

WRIA 7 – Snoqualmie Tribe: $108,226

Host 18 volunteer restoration events reaching an estimated 1,000 volunteers at CWM Restoration sites along the Snoqualmie River. These events seek to bring volunteers into conversation about our region’s essential salmon habitat work and provide a space to experience natural spaces in the restoration process and contribute to them with recreational restoration efforts. With sites from Carnation to North Bend, the Snoqualmie Tribe plans to build on past restoration and volunteer programs, inviting WRIA 7 residents, Tribal members, and the public into restoration projects, bringing stewardship and understanding – key components of successful cultural & ecological restoration.

Snoqualmie Tribe Community Volunteer Habitat Stewardship

WRIA 7 – Sound Salmon Solutions: $35,148

The CATS program provides participants with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and support to plan and implement on-the-ground projects to improve water quality and aid in salmon recovery. CATS participants learn from experts through formal presentations, field experiences, and guided discussions while receiving ongoing mentoring from their program facilitators to develop their own community-driven stewardship action projects to improve watershed health. The program will result in 20 stewardship focused action projects improving watershed health, each with over 50 hours of volunteer work.

WRIA 7 – Nature Vision: $82,385

Up to 700 3rd-12th grade students in 28 classes from the Riverview and Snoqualmie Valley School Districts will participate in Nature Vision’s educational programming, including restoration field trips and community science projects. Students will become “Blue Teams” by completing an education-based action project and participating in data collection aiming to improve salmon habitat and water quality. 150 additional students from 6 classes in the Green-Duwamish Watershed will participate in the same program through funding match. Students will participate in five to six one-hour educational classroom sessions and a multi-hour field trip which includes habitat restoration and community science to benefit salmon and watershed processes.

WRIA 7 – Sound Salmon Solutions: $85, 471

The Salmon in Schools program is a hands-on education program that engages students in salmon education and recovery. The program would bring 150 salmon directly to students in King County WRIA 7 schools in conjunction with classroom lessons and a culminating field experience. To further connect students with our watershed, we would also offer field experiences for middle and high school students. Our curriculum inspires a greater sense of stewardship within students and the community and connects individuals with the tangible actions we can all take to improve watershed health. The program will come to eight schools and offer up to five service-learning experiences.

Salmon In Schools And Watershed Service Learning

WRIA 7 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $54,734

This is a career-connected internship program for high school students, led by the Greenway Trust in partnership with the Riverview School District, Washington Network for Innovative Careers (WANIC) Skills Center, and Pacific Education Institute (PEI). Using the OSPI-approved Restoration Ecology course framework, YESS provides hands-on learning aligned with state standards and natural resource industry competencies. Participants gain valuable skills, explore green careers, and contribute to salmon recovery efforts. Each student receives a $1,800 stipend, Career and Technical Education graduation credit, and a Gear Kit. This CWM grant would support 20 students over three years.

WRIA 7 – Tulalip Tribes: $140,000

Annual monitoring of juvenile salmon outmigration in the Snoqualmie River Basin utilizing a rotary screw trap located at river mile 14.1 on the Snoqualmie River in 2026. This project is a part of the overall Snohomish Basin juvenile salmon out migration monitoring effort which began in 2001. The data from this project provides managers with the ongoing status, trends and abundance monitoring needed to support run forecasting.

WRIA 7 – Washington State Department of Natural Resources: $132,700

Survey and assess fish use and restoration opportunities on 13.5 miles of the Raging River, establish a Working Group to coordinate monitoring and restoration across the subbasin, and collect new topo-bathymetric LiDAR for the entire subbasin. This work would complement upcoming work by King County to update status and trends monitoring and hydrological conditions within the Raging subbasin. DNR is in close coordination with King County to ensure the two projects are additive and complementary. Deliverables will include: a report and geodatabase describing existing conditions, fish use, and preliminary restoration opportunities.

Habitat Assessment Fish Use And Restoration Opportunities In The Raging River Subbasin

WRIA 7 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $98,000

Conduct habitat surveys in the Tolt and Raging Rivers. Data from these surveys will be combined with data collected in the lower mainstem Snoqualmie River in 2025 for an updated picture of current habitat conditions for salmonids. We will focus on features measured in surveys conducted in 2017 and 2000, including stream bank condition, large wood, instream habitat and floodplain features, channel and floodplain modifications, and riparian landcover, and conduct a hydrologic assessment for the Raging River. Data will directly contribute to status and trends reporting by the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum, and to a Raging River assessment proposed by the Washington State DNR.

WRIA 7 – University of Washington: $149,378

Understanding how prey resources vary across freshwater habitats is necessary to ensure that juvenile salmon habitat restoration projects restore food webs and provide abundant salmon food. To assess the availability of juvenile Chinook salmon prey at current and upcoming restoration sites in the Snoqualmie River watershed we will sample aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates throughout juvenile Chinook salmon spring residency. We will also target other off-channel and floodplain habitats, tributary confluences, and impaired sites to establish baseline data on prey availability, validate assumptions of the impacts of degraded habitats to prey resources, and inform future restoration actions and juvenile Chinook salmon diet studies.

Juvenile Chinook Salmon Prey Availability in the Lower Snoqualmie River

WRIA 7 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $130,000

This is an ongoing effort managed and delivered by the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum staff to maximize success in implementing the 2005 Snohomish River Basin Salmon Conservation Plan (Salmon Plan) in the King County portion of WRIA 7. The program will: 1) assist project implementers in identifying, developing, and advancing high priority habitat projects, water quality improvement, and planning efforts; 2) conduct Forum-led project coordination activities; and 3) support regional watershed management through policy and technical coordination.

WRIA 7 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $500,000

This habitat restoration final design project will maximize habitat value for ESA listed salmonids and non-listed fish species by removing artificial constraints on fluvial processes and restore hydrologic function and provide flood risk reduction benefits. Primary actions include removal of up to 1000 feet of flood control facilities from the left bank; reconfiguration of up to 400 feet of right bank flood control facilities, invasive species removal, plantings, and in-channel wood placement.

South Fork Skykomish Lower Miller River Floodplain Restoration Final Design

WRIA 7 – Tulalip Tribes: $271,000

This project aims to permanently conserve, steward, and restore 190 acres of riparian forest lands and natural watershed processes in the Mainstem Primary Restoration and Headwaters Secondary Restoration sub-basins for Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, Steelhead, Bull trout, cutthroat, and rainbow trout. The properties include 0.85 miles along the South Fork Skykomish River, 0.40 miles on the Beckler River, their side channels, and 1 mile of perennial and seasonal streams. The Tulalip Tribes will incentivize participation and reduce costs by working with landowners to sell the property and retain term-limited easements with ecological restoration requirements and compatible recreational use.

Beckler Confluence Conservation Acquisition

WRIA 7 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $370,485

Apply the momentum from King County’s alternatives analysis to design the selected alternative, taking a big step closer to a project that will improve habitat along the mainstem Snoqualmie River and reconnect off-channel habitat between Fall City and Snoqualmie Falls. In 2021 King County Roads decommissioned the SE Fish Hatchery Road Bridge, opening the opportunity to remove up to 2,000 feet of old road infrastructure (bridge and armoring) and improve the connection with habitat features in the floodplain at a range of river flow levels.

WRIA 7 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $74,950

Continue a multi-year effort to systematically control invasive knotweed along the Raging River and re-establish native vegetation through the floodplain and riparian corridor. This project will maintain the momentum on controlling this aggressive weed, extend control further into the floodplain, and continue efforts to re-forest the Raging River corridor, while educating landowners on the importance of restoring critical salmon habitat. Greenway Trust staff will complete at least 5 acres of knotweed control and install over 1,300 native trees and shrubs in areas previously treated throughout the project area.

WRIA 7 – Stewardship Partners: $95,260

Improve salmon habitat and water quality by restoring 1,700 linear feet (~5 acres) of riparian habitat along the mainstem Snoqualmie River, an intermittent channel and an oxbow lake with a voluntary landowner. The project promotes outcomes associated with Best Management Practices (BMPs) as part of Stewardship Partners’ voluntary incentive-based approach to landowner stewardship. Other outcomes include expanding buffer width to approximately 125’ and planting approximately 6,000 native trees and shrubs.

WRIA 7 – Trout Unlimited: $139,552

The current state of the riparian zone along the Snoqualmie River on farm property is degraded and while there was some work to enhance the area in the past it is currently overwhelmed with noxious weeds including blackberry and knotweed. This work will begin to transition a mile of river frontage back to a better functioning riparian area. This project partners with the Snoqualmie tribe and the landowner by utilizing his labor force to help in the project. Jubilee Farms is an ideal location to host community stewardship events and outreach activities at established community events.

Jubilee Farms River Riparian Restoration Phase 1

WRIA 7 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $54,133

Enhance riparian vegetation along the riverbank at the former Snoqualmie River RV Park and adjacent parcel. The 15-acre site was acquired by King County in 2015 for salmon recovery and flood mitigation. Since 2020, 6,488 plants have been installed across Phases 1 & 2. Phase 3 will focus on riverbank stabilization through weed control, live staking, and monitoring and maintenance along 2,072 linear feet of riverbank. Ongoing invasive species control and planting will occur across all 15-acres.

WRIA 8 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $300,000

Support a reach-scale floodplain habitat restoration project along East Fork Issaquah Creek to improve habitat conditions for endangered Chinook salmon in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish (WRIA 8) watershed. Funding will support the acquisition of streamside parcels, and site preparation including structure demolition, noxious weed removal, and reforestation.

WRIA 8 – Adopt A Stream Foundation: $139,587

Complete final designs and secure permits for restoring 1,055 feet of Bear Creek and 2.5 acres of riparian buffer at Friendly Village, building on designs developed under a 2021 CWM grant. Final designs will address including floodplain connectivity, riparian vegetation, and channel complexity.

WRIA 8 – City of Issaquah: $425,000

Restore habitat along Issaquah Creek on a City-owned parcel extending downstream of city limits. It will increase and improve floodplain habitat, remove bank armoring, install log complexes, remove invasive plants, plant native trees and shrubs, and provide passive recreational opportunities. Habitat restoration will benefit threatened Chinook salmon and wildlife in general.

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $144,992

Remove an earthen dam, a 100% fish passage barrier, on an unnamed tributary to Cottage Lake Creek. We will coordinate with King County, who is replacing the immediate downstream culvert as a separate project. Together, these projects remove the only two fish passage barriers on the stream, making the entire one-mile tributary completely accessible to fish for spawning and rearing.

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $95,437

WRIA 8 – King County Department of Local Services, Road Services Division: $659,479

Complete preliminary design to replace a dual box culvert that conveys Cottage Lake Creek under Avondale Road NE with a fish-passable bridge. The existing fish barrier is tied for the twelfth highest habitat priority barrier out of more than 950 ranked barriers owned by King County. There are about 15 miles of potential salmon habitat upstream of the site.

Avondale Rd NE At Cottage Lake Creek Culvert Replacement And Fish Passage

WRIA 8 – Whale Scout: $20,483

Maintain a previously restored area along Bear Creek at a private homesite, featuring 170 linear feet of shoreline. Maintenance includes controlling invasive weeds and managing beaver activity. Interns and students will use the site to continue vegetation monitoring and research projects. Continued riparian restoration will improve water quality and juvenile rearing habitat.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $111,199

Continue a multi-year effort to systematically control knotweed along 11 miles of Issaquah Creek and re-establish native vegetation through the floodplain and riparian corridor. This proposal seeks to continue controlling this aggressive weed, extend further into the floodplain, and re-forest the Issaquah Creek corridor while educating landowners.

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $211,630

Conduct treatments and effectiveness monitoring, complete an Environmental Impact Analysis for large scale weed control efforts, hold regular technical committee meetings to review findings and advise future work, and engage stakeholder groups for the future development of a plan leading to direct management actions.

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $50,496

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $101,131

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $46,634

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $75,000

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $64,479

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $23,749

The Bringing Salmon to Classrooms around Lake Sammamish program, led by Trout Unlimited, expands Salmon in the Classroom to area schools lacking resources for fish tanks, field trips, and/or curriculum support. Partnering with Gibson Ek High School mentors, students will raise coho fry, learn about salmon recovery, and visit restoration sites. The program will engage 600 students annually.

District 4

Supervisor Jorge Barón (District 4) noted the program’s long-term vision:

“This is not just about today — it’s about ensuring future generations can enjoy thriving salmon runs, safe water, and green spaces that support both people and wildlife.”

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $287,317

Remove nearly 70 feet of hard armor at a private shoreline property, regrade the bank to create a more natural slope, and plant native shoreline vegetation. Originally identified through the Shore Friendly King County program, the project spans two adjacent properties on the south coast of Salmon Bay. It will serve as a demonstration project for shoreline armor removal on private property.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $37,000

Partner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to assess riparian restoration opportunities at USACE-managed properties between Lake Union and Puget Sound along the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $101,480

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $50,496

WRIA 8 – Long Live the Kings: $38,104

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $67,422

The Lake Washington Ship Canal is an infection hot spot for the parasite Ceratonova shasta, the cause of a lethal disease in Chinook salmon. This study will standardize live sentinel caging methods to develop an accurate monitoring tool for C. shasta to use for population-level monitoring and to determine target parasite reduction levels via mitigation.

WRIA 8 – University of Washington: $118,372

Survey juvenile Chinook salmon in Shilshole Bay, where DNR is proposing to remove a 30,000 ft2 creosote-treated pier. This is near the Ballard Locks, a critical link for juvenile salmon between Lake Washington and Puget Sound. To measure effectiveness, we propose to collect pre-removal data on fish, fish predators, invertebrate prey fields, and sediments.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $64,479

WRIA 9 – Free The Green: $75,000

Improve water quality, stabilizing streambanks, increasing shade cover, and enhancing habitat complexity to support salmon recovery by installing native plants to improve riparian resilience, increase biodiversity, and restore native plant habitat while reducing noxious weed populations. Community engagement is central to this effort, with 200–300 volunteers participating in work parties to support planting and maintenance.

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,900

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

District 5

Supervisor De’Sean Quinn, (District 5) commented on the Green-Duwamish watersheds:

“The Cooperative Watershed Management grants continue to lead the way with innovative, community-driven solutions that honor the cultural, ecological, and economic importance of the Green and Duwamish rivers. Our values of conservation and investment in partnerships like these are King County’s legacy.”

WRIA 8 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $28,500

Assist with monitoring of spawning Chinook salmon in WRIA 8. The primary goal of this work includes biosampling surveys of salmon in the Cedar River including, length, sex, origin, pre-spawn mortality, egg retention, and supplemental collection of otoliths, scales, and potential tags. The work also supports spawning ground surveys to document abundance, redd location, and spawn timing.

WRIA 9 – Free The Green: $75,000

WRIA 9 – Green River Coalition: $35,000

Improve tree establishment and connect to riparian habitat at the Minkler Triangle in Tukwila using native oak/conifer and shrub plantings. An additional site connects with private landowners interested in adding canopy and restoring riparian habitat on private parcels on the Duwamish River. This project includes restoration and maintenance as well as landowner outreach and workforce development/job training opportunities.

WRIA 9 – City of Kent: $20,000

Create viewshed corridors at the Lower Russell Road Levee Setback project that balances shade, native vegetation percent cover, views of the river, recreation, and maintenance. Uniformly dense thickets of native vegetation that work well ecologically in large, interconnected, and more remote areas can be limiting for other goals in the urban natural area interface. This project explores a compromise to be applied to other large urban capital habitat projects on the river.

WRIA 9 – City of Normandy Park: $225,000

This acquisition project will protect and conserve shorelines across Normandy Park through fee ownership and conservation easement. This grant allows the city to expand on the ongoing Beaconsfield on the Sound Project area which has significant potential to advance recovery and substantively contribute to habitat goals. This grant will target ten willing sellers adjacent to Marine View Park allowing for immediate public access to shoreline.

WRIA 9 – City of Des Moines: $210,000

This project is a continuation of the preliminary engineering efforts for the Des Moines Creek Estuary Restoration Project. The project entails bringing the design from 30% to Bid Ready Documents including engineering design, public outreach support, cultural resource support, and permit approval for improvements to the shoreline, estuary habitat, and public access near the mouth of and adjacent to Des Moines Creek. The project will identify potential improvements to address flooding impacts to Des Moines Beach Park while bolstering both shoreline and estuary habitat. The project will also evaluate public access and connectivity impacts to the estuary.

WRIA 9 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $80,000

Produce a final design to remove an old derelict roadbed from the bank of the Green River. The roadbed is a section of the old West Valley Highway, buried beneath a layer of topsoil. The site was the subject of an attempted revegetation project, initiated in 2018 by King County DNRP WLRD. This revegetation project was largely unsuccessful due to the existence of the roadbed, as roots were unable to get established through the impervious surface. In additional to designing the removal the old road, we will re-engineer the existing stormwater infrastructure to capture more runoff, clear the invasives, and replant the site with native trees and shrubs.

WRIA 9 – Environmental Science Center: $54,000

WRIA 9 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $14,337

Supports a flagship education program that provides safe, fun, and meaningful stewardship opportunities that inspire awe and wonder in salmon and the natural world. MidSound engages South King County middle and high school students and teachers in hands-on education and habitat restoration. GDSS invites students to investigate their watershed through a series of activities that foster understanding of ecosystem health, complex and competing land use practices, habitat restoration at multiple scales, and the impact of their stewardship. The program grows a network of schools that are adopting places in their local watersheds and advocating for change in their communities.

WRIA 9 – Nature Vision: $21,054

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,900

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $200,011

Help to understand sediment deposition patterns and develop guidance specifically for the Lower Green River capital projects that project teams can use to minimize sediment deposition within their projects, both during design and later during monitoring and adaptive management of existing restoration sites. Develop design guidance using two factors: 1) sediment deposition observations within existing restoration projects; 2) hydraulic modeling of those projects to identify hydraulic conditions that produced the deposition, including testing of design modifications that could have been included to minimize deposition.

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

District 6

Supervisor Claudia Balducci (District 6) highlighted climate resilience:

“Restoring natural river systems helps mitigate flood risks and buffer our communities against the effects of climate change. It’s a smart, forward-looking investment.”

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $95,437

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $211,630

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $51,556

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $101,131

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $46,634

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $64,479

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $23,749

District 7

Supervisor Pete von Reichbauer (District 7) emphasized partnership:

“This funding strengthens our partnerships with local governments, nonprofits, and tribal nations committed to the restoration and protection of our shared watersheds.”

WRIA 9 – Free The Green: $75,000

WRIA 9 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $150,000

Restore a City of Auburn-owned stretch of the mainstem of Mill Creek and an offshoot, fed by a small pond. Mill Creek is a neglected stream that runs South to North alongside SR-167 to the West, and numerous parking lots and office complexes to the East. Despite its location and its lack of native vegetation, the stream is home to Fall Chinook, Fall Chum, Winter Steelhead, Coastal Cutthroat, and Coho salmon according to WDFW Salmonscape. This project will brush cut the site, treat with water-safe herbicide, and install stake willows, red-osier dogwood, and Douglas spirea throughout, while adding conifers to high points.

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $800,000

Reconnect a perched floodplain tributary to the mainstem channel to restore fish passage and expand rearing and floodplain habitat for juvenile salmon, especially ESA-listed Chinook salmon. An existing culvert and flapgate at the tributary mouth pose barriers to juvenile use of the system and will be replaced by modern, fish-passable alternatives. In addition, a new 725-foot-long channel will be excavated connecting this new culvert to the mainstem to provide fish passage and off-channel rearing and refuge habitat between the mainstem channel and the new culvert and flood gate. A farm access road will be relocated to better connect an adjacent riparian wetland to the river and riparian buffer to the Green River will be enhanced and improved.

WRIA 9 – Environmental Science Center: $54,000

WRIA 9 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $14,337

WRIA 9 – Nature Vision: $21,054

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,900

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $200,011

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

WRIA 10 – Puyallup Tribe of Indians Fisheries: $223,078

This monitoring project will sample the outmigration of juvenile salmon during late winter and spring of 2027 on the White River to estimate abundance, run timing and detail biological characteristics of ESA listed salmon species (Chinook and Steelhead).

WRIA 10 – Free the Green: $150,200

Restore 6.5 acres of riparian area along Boise Creek, including installation of traditional native foods to enhance both ecological and cultural values. Funds will also support educational outreach and continued restoration across public and private lands within WRIA 10.

District 8

Supervisor Teresa Mosqueda (District 8) reflected on environmental justice:

“Through the Cooperative Watershed Management Grant Program, we’re investing in the health of these watersheds—restoring habitat, improving water quality, and supporting environmental justice for communities that have long been impacted by industrialization and climate change.”

WRIA 9 – Free The Green: $75,000

WRIA 9 – Green River Coalition: $35,000

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $300,000

Remove a tire revetment on the left bank of the Duwamish River at river mile 6.26 in the City of Tukwila to increase water quality in the river and improve critical intertidal rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids in a highly developed and degraded system adjacent to Cecil Moses Park. This proposal is to extend funding for the existing Cecil Moses – Habitat Restoration Project (2023) with construction planned for 2028.

Cecil Moses Park Habitat Restoration Design

WRIA 9 – Seattle Parks and Recreation: $245,000

Adaptively manage an older restoration project to increase fish use by expanding the channel opening width, dredging/deepening a pilot channel through the interior mud flat, removing shoreline armor and consider a bridge over the channel for recreational access. Recommendations from the Feasibility Study will be used to move the preferred concept to the 30% design milestone and prepare an updated cost estimate. Public engagement and working with Duwamish River stakeholders, NRDA trustees and Tribes would be included in the 30% design process. This grant would fund the design and cost estimate.

WRIA 9 – Vashon Maury Island Land Trust: $60,000

Create a design for installation of large wood structures along Shinglemill Creek throughout the lower third of the watershed – all of which is owned by King County, Vashon Land Trust, and Vashon Park District. There are no structures remaining in the lower floodplain except Cedarhurst Road, where Shinglemill Creek passes through a culvert under the roadway. This grant presents an opportunity to practice process-based habitat restoration by reconnecting Shinglemill Creek to its historic floodplain across the entire valley bottom and reducing the current excessive flow of sediment.

WRIA 9 – Vashon Nature Center: $34,560

Continue implementation of a community program called BeachNET (Beach Nearshore Ecology Team) that engages adults and families on Vashon Island in helping to monitor shoreline restoration projects, salmon and trout use, and natural kelp bed ecology and extent along the shores of Vashon Island. Established hands-on science units in all three public schools take students out into the field to learn about marine biology, watershed health, and salmon (more than 600 students a year). The BeachNET community has expanded beyond Vashon by working with Maury Island Aquatic Reserve and off-island partners (for example Sea Potential and Hip Hop is Green) to bring youth from more urban parts of King County to the island to do community science and learn about healthy beaches and watersheds for salmon.

WRIA 9 – Delridge Neighborhood Development Association: $32,398

Continues work in leading 3rd – 5th grade students from the Louisa Boren K-8 STEM School in environmental education lessons at the Delridge Wetland Park. In November of 2023, DNDA completed our project of restoring the wetland and constructing an outdoor classroom. The site serves as an example of community effort in restoration and provides the opportunity for students and others in our neighborhood to engage in systems-based learning that fosters a stronger connection to our urban wetlands and creeks. In 2024, DNDA expanded programming to engage additional grades from the STEM School and to serve students at nearby Roxhill Elementary. DNDA develops age-appropriate curriculum on topics such as watersheds, ecosystem functions, local flora and fauna, and the impacts of stormwater on delicate ecosystems. In 2025, we will launch our Community Water Quality Monitoring Program that engages 10 community volunteers in collecting critical data on Longfellow Creek.

WRIA 9 – Environmental Science Center: $54,000

WRIA 9 – Nature Vision: $21,054

WRIA 9 – Vashon Nature Center: $78,000

Collaborate with a previous study examining juvenile Chinook rearing in non-natal streams and estuaries. We will calibrate eDNA and electro-fishing methods to develop a citizen science eDNA rapid assessment protocol for measuring non-natal Chinook rearing presence. We will sample eDNA concurrently with electrofishing in streams and estuaries on Vashon during the spring of 2026. This will provide a valuable comparison of sampling techniques; allow us to calibrate methods; and add information about chinook use of associated saltwater estuaries that cannot be electro-fished. With the UW eDNA Collaborative, we will refine a citizen science protocol that can be widely applied to conduct rapid assessments throughout Puget Sound.

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,900

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

District 9

“This is one of the most impactful things we do as a District,” said King County Flood Control District Chair Reagan Dunn (District 9). “These grants help protect our waterways, restore salmon habitat, and prepare our region for a changing climate. They also support local jobs and empower our communities to lead in environmental stewardship.”

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $95,437

WRIA 8 – Seattle Public Utilities: $600,000

Design and complete permitting for a floodplain reconnection and stream channel and riparian habitat project to benefit juvenile salmon rearing and hydraulic refuge. The project includes all design and permitting necessary to execute construction of an approximately 11-acre floodplain reconnection project on the newly acquired 20-acre Sherry Parcel on the right-bank of the Cedar River near Maple Valley.

Upper Royal Arch Reach Floodplain Restoration Design Phase 2

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $111,199

WRIA 8 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $28,500

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $50,496

WRIA 8 – U.S. Geological Survey: $51,556

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $101,131

WRIA 8 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $46,634

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $75,000

WRIA 8 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $500,000

Remove a partial fish passage blockage and construct a new bridge where a local road crosses over Carey Creek, a tributary of Issaquah Creek in Hobart, WA. The project will reestablish unobstructed fish passage upstream to three miles of high-quality aquatic and riparian habitat.

WRIA 8 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $64,479

WRIA 8 – Environmental Science Center: $20,000

Salmon Heroes is a multi-part program for WRIA 8 students and their teachers in 4th-8th grade reaching 40 classes (approximately 1,000 students), focused on the Cedar River. Using salmon as a local phenomenon to center the program, Salmon Heroes increases knowledge of local salmon habitat needs, challenges to their survival, and actions they can take to help keep our waters healthy for salmon and humans alike.

WRIA 8 – Trout Unlimited: $23,749

WRIA 9 – Free The Green: $75,000

WRIA 9 – King Conservation District: $93,197

Restore riparian habitat along Crisp Creek and Keta Springs on 3 properties owned by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe which contain or lie adjacent to the Keta-Crisp Hatchery. The Keta-Crisp Hatchery is an important source of salmon harvested by the Muckleshoot Tribe in keeping with their fishing rights. Funding would also cover 3 years of monitoring and at least one season of extensive weed management in the installed buffers.

WRIA 9 – Tacoma Water: $124,920

Remove noxious weeds (primarily Himalayan blackberry) and plant native trees at a previously constructed side channel project in the Upper Green River Watershed. The project is located directly adjacent to the mainstem Green River between Elder and Canton Creeks. The funds will be used to pay for labor to manually remove weeds, salvage native plants from elsewhere within the upper watershed, and plant native trees in the cleared areas.

WRIA 9 – Orca Conservancy: $30,000

Maintain a previously installed restoration site along Big Soos Creek to ensure that recently planted native trees and shrubs are given ample opportunity to thrive (Phase I) and expand the previously installed restoration area footprint by planting shade-producing native trees and shrubs adjacent to Big Soos Creek (Phase II). These actions will moderate overly warm stream temperatures which negatively impact salmon rearing, increase insect production, encourage beaver colonization, and provide instream wood to improve rearing opportunities for salmon.

WRIA 9 – Green River Coalition: $25,105

Add maintenance work at our Palmer Slough (public), Hunter (private), Holt (private), Young (private), Hess (public), and CWA (public) sites. At Palmer Slough, we will be continuing a partnership with Tacoma Waters, Orca Conservancy, and Unleash the Brilliance to provide on the ground restoration work and continued training to our volunteers and landowners, establishing native vegetation and tree canopy along the main stem of the Green River. We have also established communication with a private landowner who is interested in restoring their property on Little Soos Creek. This property is contiguous with other project sites along the Little Soos Creek waterway.

WRIA 9 – EarthCorps: $62,704

Expand restoration efforts at Southgate Park to include riparian revegetation along 900 feet of perennial creek identified as a priority area on the riparian sun map. Restoration activities will include native plant installation and vegetation management, including the use of manual, mechanical, and chemical control as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan. EarthCorps’ noxious weed control and revegetation work will enhance runoff filtration, stabilize streambanks, and lower water temperatures in Southgate Creek. These improvements will directly benefit salmon by creating a cooler, more stable habitat.

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

Produce a 30% design of a capital restoration project to remove a levee and relocate portions of a road, both which are adjacent to the Green River at River Mile 43.5 in Flaming Geyser State Park. The intent of this design is to promote salmon habitat formation through riverine hydrological processes. Restoration elements will include large wood placement within the river and on the riverbanks, the planting of native trees and shrubs, and installing snags. This project could result in removing up to 0.5 miles of riverbank hardening and eventually restore about 12 acres of riparian riverine habitat.

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $196,645

Restore riparian habitat within 500’ of the river and side channel in areas devoid of trees and shrubs to benefit Chinook and steelhead by moderating river water temperatures and increasing food supply for salmon. Other benefits of this project would include enhancing terrestrial wildlife habitat, sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.

WRIA 9 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $125,000

Advance an in-stream and riparian restoration project on Little Soos Creek through Wingfield Open Space from conceptual to final design and permitting. The creek has been straightened and armored in places, its riparian area has been degraded, and it regularly floods an adjacent trail in the winter. This project will improve salmon habitat by restoring floodplain connectivity; increasing channel complexity; improving riparian buffer density and biodiversity; benefiting water quality; moving the community access trail away from the creek to promote better floodplain health; and supporting education and stewardship opportunities for schools, volunteer groups, and community members.

WRIA 9 – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $59,318

Sustain Burien Green Teens (BGT), a career-connected internship program run at Salmon Creek Ravine in Burien in partnership with Burien, Dirt Corps, and King Conservation District, funding 12 new interns and 2 Assistant Leaders over two years. Over two summer weeks, BGT equips teens with knowledge and skills they need to pursue green careers by working alongside and learning from conservation professionals, performing ecological restoration, discussing equity and social justice, and more. The Greenway Trust helps alleviate barriers by providing a stipend, daily lunches, and gear kits (e.g., work pants and boots, first aid kit, and more). We center equitable hiring practices to help ensure that we serve teens, including those who may not otherwise have access to green jobs due to historic inequities.

WRIA 9 – Environmental Science Center: $54,000

WRIA 9 – Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group: $14,337

WRIA 9 – Nature Vision: $21,054

WRIA 9 – University of Washington: $154,702

Leverage existing PIT-tagged subyearling Chinook in the Green/Duwamish. Adapting methods from a matrix antenna system used in the Lower Columbia River to suit Duwamish River conditions, we will construct a mobile PIT tag antenna system connected to nets with open cod ends. Fish will pass through the nets unharmed as they pass the detection system. We will sample during peak Chinook outmigration in spring 2026 and sample at several locations per day in both mainstem and off-channel restoration sites in the Duwamish estuary. This study will address WRIA 9 priorities to better understand habitat characteristics associated with longer juvenile Chinook residence times and assess how shallow water habitat creation in the past few decades has impacted Chinook residence time and habitat use in the Duwamish.

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,900

WRIA 9 – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: $92,659

Help determine the contribution of juvenile freshwater life histories among returning adult Chinook to the Green River watershed. The juvenile life history strategy of surviving adults will be compared to the life history strategies observed and documented within the Green River watershed. The goal of this comparison between outmigration data and returning adults is to evaluate the life history strategies that survive and return to spawn in the Green River. The results from this research will help inform habitat restoration needs for a given life stage by comparing the Green River results to juvenile data and to adult results in neighboring watersheds.

WRIA 9 – King County Water & Land Resources Division: $150,000

WRIA 10 – Puyallup Tribe of Indians Fisheries: $223,078

WRIA 10 – Trout Unlimited: $229,040

Develop 60% permit-ready designs to address 2 fish passage barriers on Pyramid Creek, a high-priority salmon recovery tributary to the Greenwater River. When implemented, these designs will restore fish access to approximately 0.5-miles of upstream habitat.

Learn More
To learn more about the CWM Grant Program, visit www.kingcountyfloodcontrol.org.