Gov. Inslee Press Updates
Washingtonians drink from the Columbia River. Tribes sustain themselves by fishing from it. It waters our fields to grow our food. Communities are powered by it. Under its surface is an ecosystem just as reliant on the river’s health as humanity. But that world beneath is suffering because of the one above. The river and its salmon are in grave peril due to human activity and climate change.
On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee signed an executive order emphasizing the critical nature of salmon recovery through restoring the Columbia River Basin and riparian habitats.
“We need to think of our state and its waters as borrowed rather than inherited. We owe future generations a healthy state,” said Inslee. “These fish and these waters are our responsibility to defend. We’ve charted a course for salmon recovery, and this order holds us to it.”
Keeping the ball rolling
One of Inslee’s first successes as governor was the settlement of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. Twelve years later, one of his final acts will be another historic measure to protect Washington’s waters.
The Yakima Basin Integrated Plan and the subsequent Chehalis Basin Strategy, Walla Walla 2050 Initiative, and Nooksack Transboundary Flood Initiative brought powerful, clashing interests into harmony. Tribes, farmers, shippers, utilities, conservationists and communities all recognized the paramount importance of a healthy river over any one interest.
That succession of agreements culminated in the most important one yet last December: The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA). The Biden-Harris Administration co-signed the historic agreement with Pacific Northwest Tribes, Oregon, and Washington (“the Six Sovereigns”). and committed to salmon recovery, clean energy investments, and renewed acknowledgement of Tribal treaty rights.
That agreement was a long time coming, preceded by the Inslee-Murray Report on the Lower Snake River Dams. And it will take a long time to implement through the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), the work plan developed by the Six Sovereigns to achieve the goals of the RCBA.
It took decades to generate the momentum to reach this important agreement, and Tuesday’s executive order ensures that no momentum is lost in implementing the agreement. Importantly, it commits the state to follow through on its commitments under the CBRI, and to continue to act with urgency to save salmon.
Under the executive order, a collection of state agencies and organizations will continue their work to strategize for salmon recovery, advance science-based solutions, restore habitat, and bring together diverse interest groups for the sake of preserving salmon runs in the Columbia Basin.
“Salmon have inhabited Washington for millions of years, but their time is running out. We cannot waver for a moment, now or in the future, in our work to restore these runs,” said Inslee.
Rebuilding riparian habitats
One of the key efforts the state is engaged in, and a critical focus of the new executive order, is riparian restoration.
Salmon habitats are threatened in many ways by human activity. Tire dust and brake dust in stormwater can poison rivers. Snowpack and stream flows are dwindling. Water temperatures are soaring. Obstacles block migratory paths, and development has harmed fragile ecosystems.
Through legislation and elbow grease, the state has reacted decisively to reverse habitat loss. Toxic copper-treated brake pads are banned. Hundreds of culverts have been cleared. The Climate Commitment Act is now funding hundreds of crucial habitat restoration projects. Mile by mile, the state is creating better conditions for aquatic life.
Tuesday’s order calls on state agencies to accelerate that work, and to tighten the partnerships that empower progress. The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office will work with agencies to continually refine the state’s salmon strategy, establish standardized metrics to evaluate success, and advance science-based methods to improve the health of key watersheds.
State agencies will also work with local governments to implement the Washington’s Growth Management Act and the Shoreline Management Act to ensure statewide compliance and responsible development near watersheds. And the state will also support local governments as they implement regional salmon and habitat recovery plans and support productive agriculture.
Murky waters
Washington won’t be working alone to sustain this momentum. The State of Oregon is a CBRI co-signer, as are the four regional Tribes. A key tenet of the RCBA is a stay of litigation that had long hammered the federal government over the operation of the Lower Snake River dams. Should the new federal administration retreat from the agreement, they’ll also have to retreat from a salvo of litigation for breach of Tribal treaty rights affirmed by precedent.
Local parties would also suffer from increased acrimony. The state’s salmon strategy accounts for agricultural and economic interests that may not earn the same consideration if litigation were to usurp collaboration.
The damage of antagonism would be significant, to salmon most of all. But if the state can continue to bring regional interests together in partnership and collaboration, each might have their cake and eat it — salmon cakes, of course.