Since 1915, the Chambers Creek Estuary has been blocked to fish passage by a dam, the most recent of which is visible today from Chambers Creek Road between Steilacoom and University Place. But thanks to the leadership of the Puyallup Tribe, Pierce County Surface Water Management, South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and others, it appears the dam’s days are finally numbered . With continued advocacy and support, the estuary will soon be open again to salmon and other wildlife.
Built to retain water to supply the adjacent industrial uses — a gravel mine to the north, and a paper mill to the southwest — the dam has not served its original purpose for more than two decades. During that time, it has caused the deaths of innumerable salmon returning to spawn and created a funnel benefiting predatory birds and marine mammals who feast on out-migrating juvenile salmon. The dam has also blocked high-functioning habitat to juvenile salmon looking for refuge from fast flows and predators as they make their way from rivers and streams throughout the South Sound to the Pacific Ocean.
Today, 40% of the historic estuary to Puget Sound has been impounded and submerged behind the dam; it now functions at a fraction of its potential.
The Puyallup Tribe and other salmon recovery leaders have invested thousands of hours and millions of dollars into salmon habitat protection and restoration efforts upstream — from Chambers Creek Canyon to the headwaters of Clover Creek — but the benefits continue to be limited by the harm the dam is causing to salmon.
Over the last nine years, salmon recovery leaders have championed efforts to study the dam’s removal, engaging affected governments, stakeholders and the community at-large. Millions of salmon recovery dollars to remove the dam and restore the estuary have also been secured.
Backed by a wide variety of public, private and tribal support, the dam removal project is poised to begin construction in the next several years, once full funding is achieved and the design and engineering work is complete.
However, for the dam removal project to move forward , transportation dollars must be secured to replace the existing Chambers Creek Road and its bridge.
Removing the existing road and bridge and replacing it with a higher and longer span will enable the dam removal project to move forward and make the bridge safer and accessible for cyclists and pedestrians.
Access and education
If Chambers Creek Dam is so bad, why has it taken so long to get to this point?
For starters: ownership of the dam is complicated, including the associated rights and obligations; funding for restoration is difficult to secure; and until a few years ago, not all affected governments agreed on an approach for restoring the estuary.
These challenges take years to overcome, and the creative, committed partners working on this project have continued to produce outstanding work, pivoting when necessary to ensure continued success. As committed champions of the dam’s removal we could not be more thrilled to see this project moving forward.
Public access and ongoing education for this effort are critical. We have both lived, worked and raised our families in this region. The time spent exploring this canyon and estuary — watching the spawning salmon and teaching our children about caring for the environmental assets that we enjoy in this place we live — is only limited by how we care for it, how we communicate its importance and, ultimately, how long our descendants do the same.
From Kobayashi Park to Chambers Bay Golf Course to Sunnyside Beach, the opportunities to enhance the health of the estuary’s ecology, promote safe salmon rearing and provide the region’s residents with a reason to protect the area is an investment we should all be excited to make.
With funding from a bipartisan 2021 Infrastructure bill , Pierce County has been able to begin the initial planning and design for the road and bridge replacement, which will clear the way for the dam to be removed and the estuary restored.
While it will be several more years before construction commences, our legislative and congressional leaders must continue to prioritize transportation and salmon recovery dollars to make the dream of a restored estuary a reality.
We want to thank the Puyallup Tribe of Indians for contributing to this piece.
Nicholas Carr is a former Congressional staffer who lives and plays in Tacoma and is a strong advocate for smart conservation policies. His career has spanned the lengths of the Washington coast to the timber lands of the Olympics and the shorelines of the South Puget Sound, working on projects and public policy supporting economic development, conservation and affordable housing.
Jordan Rash is freelance writer, podcaster, outdoorsman and conservation advocate in Tacoma. He’s spent a career on and around the forests, mountains, wetlands and rivers of the Pacific Northwest fighting wildfires, developing public policy and leading conservation efforts.
Most Popular
Comments / 0