My Edmonds News
Posted: November 20, 2024
It is salmon migration season and significant numbers of chum salmon are actively making their way up Shell Creek. As is always the case, they need to pass many obstacles along the way. This year they were presented with a new and unexpected challenge.
A residential footbridge, in place for over a decade, and historically well above the water line, had been impacted by the recent flow of significant amounts of sediment from upstream. In fact, the bridge was now completely blocked, leaving a 12-inch impassable waterfall. This is a serious dilemma for chum who are strong swimmers but, unlike coho, not strong jumpers.
Enter Joe Scordino and Jesse Dykstra to the rescue. Scordino is the founder and leader of the Edmonds Stream Team and long-time advocate of preserving salmon habitats. Dykstra is a fish and wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Together, they developed a low-impact plan to ease chum passage over the bridge via removal of a small number of surface pavers. An emergency hydraulic project approval (HPA) permit was issued by WDFW and within 30 minutes of the pavers being removed more than a dozen chum had navigated the bridge to continue their journey – and many more are following.