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The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has received a $701,000 grant through the 2023 National Fish and Wildlife National Coastal Resilience Fund to plan for Skagit River salmon habitat improvement and flood resilience.

The Tribal Community will partner with the Skagit River System Cooperative, the Skagit Climate Science Consortium and the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group to develop a revised hydraulic model for the lower Skagit River floodplain to enhance understanding of coastal and riverine flood risks.

“With this grant award, the Swinomish Tribal Community continues its leadership role to advance best scientific information and apply it to the real-world impacts resulting from climate change in order to ensure we can recover salmon while better protecting Skagit communities,” said Swinomish Tribal Chairman Steve Edwards. “I’m proud that this important project will be carried out by a team of climate experts and that an integral part of this grant is community education, engagement and outreach.”

The project will build capacity for Tribes and local communities to advance nature-based solutions to flooding, salmon habitat restoration and resilience. This effort will combine inclusive and proven engagement processes with state-of-the-art hydraulic modeling, to facilitate conversations about flooding and the implications for public safety, infrastructure, agriculture and fish habitat within the Skagit River and delta.

Skagit tribes, state and federal agencies, local jurisdictions and the agriculture community will be key constituents in this process. These discussions will identify and evaluate a range of solutions that have broader support across diverse interests and stakeholders. Work on this project is planned to begin in mid-2024.

These grants were funded in part by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which included major investments in fish recovery and coastal resiliency projects supported by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.