Salmon rescue plan takes big jump forward

But plans to carry out that concept took a big step forward this week when representatives of Seattle, King County and other local governments in the Cedar River-Lake Washington basin put the final touches on their salmon-rescue blueprint.

It's not without controversy, though. During the next month, 27 city and county councils are expected to scrutinize the three-volume document. They are being asked to back the spirit of the plan, if not each and every one of the hundreds of recommendations.

What needs to be done?

Builders need to leave lots of forest cover in place. The region's neighborhoods, houses and streets need to be built -- or rebuilt -- so that water running off after rainstorms doesn't pollute local waterways. Trees need to be planted. Development needs to go where it won't hurt fish.

The list goes on. A total of 170 items are considered important enough to be placed on a must-do list for the next decade, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $17.5 million a year.

Individuals need to pull their weight, too, say leaders of the effort who point out that Seattleites started cleaning up Lake Washington long before there was a federal Clean Water Act.

"I watched my parents' generation literally clean up Lake Washington before my eyes. They said this is a resource worth keeping and made it happen," said King County Council Chairman Larry Phillips, who worked intensely on the plan approved this week.

"If we can clean up Lake Washington, we can certainly turn salmon around. It's part of our heritage."

This week's action comes six years after Puget Sound chinook salmon won protection under the Endangered Species Act. Already the move has kicked off one of the largest efforts ever to preserve a threatened species in a sprawling metropolitan area.

Examples abound. Some are easy to see, such as the long tubes installed at the Ballard Locks to carry small salmon safely past the locks' fish-scaling concrete maw.

Others are literally out of sight, such as the shallows off Seward Park that have been made fish-friendly again by laying down gravel of just the right size.

But until now, there hasn't been a coordinated plan to save the Sound's so-called "king" salmon. The plan sent to city councils this week is part of a strategy to show the federal government that the region is serious and is instituting a formal effort to get the job done.

The plan approved this week covers the northern and eastern parts of Seattle that drain into Lake Washington and the Ship Canal. Later this year, approval is expected for a second plan covering downtown, West Seattle and areas that drain into the Duwamish and Green rivers and central Puget Sound.

Both blueprints are to be folded into the larger regional effort, known as Shared Strategy for Puget Sound, organized by leaders including Bill Ruckelshaus, the Seattle resident who twice headed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Controversy is bound to dog at least some parts of the plans.

In recent talks leading up to approval of the Cedar River-Lake Washington plan, representatives of some cities fretted that they might be committing to expensive salmon-rescue plans or ideas they don't really support.

"I'm still struggling," said Mayor Laure Iddings of Maple Valley, who questioned whether supporting the plan meant endorsing restrictions on development such as King County's controversial critical areas ordinance.

While many supporters like the watershed-by-watershed approach because it allows for tailor-made, locally driven salmon saving, Iddings questioned it during a meeting of city representatives Thursday.

"Where is the science that dictates that King County should have different standards from Snohomish County?" she asked.

Others, though, chafed at the notion that any city couldn't stomach an overall commitment to saving salmon.

"We made this as vanilla as possible so nobody felt they were backed into a corner and had to sign," said Bothell City Councilwoman Andrea Perry.

"I hate to see us be afraid," said Kirkland Deputy Mayor Joan McBride. "I think this is going to resonate with citizens."

Representatives of some cities questioned how much of a commitment they should make, considering that the federal government has never laid out what is required under the law.

But that view was in a small minority.

"We are committed to this process," said Seattle City Councilman Jim Compton. "There's a bright line between saying you're committed to this process and (saying) you're going to wait and see what happens."

The plan will be sent up the chain to Shared Strategy as long as at least nine of the 27 governments, representing at least 70 percent of the area's population, approve resolutions supporting it.

What happens next is not yet settled, but eventually all the plans will be reviewed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Members of Congress will be asked to help find federal money to pay for the work. The expected $17.5 million-a-year price tag for the first 10 years is relatively modest by standards of modern municipal finances, but it's also not a cinch to raise that much money.

Across the region, the effort has hit glitches but hasn't run into a political buzz saw. Part of the credit goes to local politicians' fears that federal representatives might step in if the chinook run continues to go downhill.

"Nobody has looked us square in the eye and said flatly, 'We're not going to cooperate,' " said former Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a Shared Strategy leader. "They all recognize we have a problem and we have to work together to solve it.

"The quest is to keep this out of court. Who wants to end up with a judge making these decisions?"

To do that around here, that's going to mean that cities will have to work together, leaders of the effort say. "The collective regional commitment, that's what this is all about," said Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives.

TO HELP SALMON

In your yard: Use fewer pesticides. Use less water. Landscape using native plants. Clean up pet waste.

On your driveway: Reduce polluted stormwater by fixing oil leaks. Don't wash your car on the street -- use a car wash or position the vehicle on the lawn.

At the water's edge: Protect stream banks and beach bluffs by keeping them naturally vegetated. If you install erosion control, find out about "soft" armoring rather than riprap or bulkheads. Keep livestock out of the water.

In your home: Conserve water. Install low-flow showerheads, faucets and toilets.

In the community: Volunteer to plant trees, count salmon, restore streams and shorelines. Many groups provide opportunities, including Adopt-A-Stream Foundation, 425-316-8592 or aasf@streamkeeper.org; and People for Puget Sound, 206-382-7007 or people@pugetsound.org.

P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com

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