There was a major milestone in a massive effort to save the Snohomish River's salmon population.
On Friday, a levee was breached, allowing water from the river to flow into 350 acres of now restored wetlands.
The Tulalip Tribes and NOAA Fisheries have been working on the project to save the fish for nearly two decades.
Salmon on the Snohomish River and in western Washington are floundering.
"Salmon populations are lower than they ever were. There used to be huge fisheries in the Puget Sound,” explained biologist Todd Zackey.
KIRO 7 rode along with him on a boat to get a view of the levee breach from the water.
Zackey said much of the issue is there are a lack of estuaries and habitats chinook salmon, in particular, need to thrive.
Bulldozing the dyke creates an estuary or a nursery for salmon to swim free of predators.
Tulalip Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon says this is imperative to the tribe financially but also culturally.
“The culture and history of Tulalip tribes is so connected to the salmon,” he explained, as he was on the water to watch the breach.
This year has been one of the worst to hatch salmon, with dangerous warm waters risking fish kills.
Zackey says now more than ever, we need projects like this one.
"If you fish, you should care,” he said. “But even if you don’t, so many people here do. Not just for fun. For a living.”
Scientists will be monitoring the salmon population to see what happens.
Two other estuaries are already in the works.
KIRO
