Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed (WRIA 8) Salmon Recovery Council
Local partners working together to
conserve and restore salmon habitat.
About WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery
Chinook Salmon (also known as King Salmon) are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In WRIA 8 local governments, community organizations, scientists, businesses, and state and federal agency partners are working together to protect and restore salmon habitat guided by a science based salmon conservation plan. Funding from the 28 local government partners and the state of Washington support salmon recovery in the watershed.
Salmon recovery in WRIA 8 is organized around the needs of two distinct Chinook populations - Cedar River and Sammamish River. Priority actions focus on protecting and restoring habitat, public outreach and education, monitoring recovery efforts, and using science to inform implementation. Habitat protection and restoration projects are prioritized in areas important for salmon migration, adult spawning, and juvenile rearing. Watershed-wide priorities include protecting forests, reducing impervious surfaces, managing stormwater flows, protecting and improving water quality, conserving water and protecting and restoring vegetation along streams and Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.
WRIA 8 Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan: Guides implementation of salmon recovery in the watershed. The 2017 Plan is an addendum to the 2005 Plan, but is also intended to serve as a stand-alone document. As an addendum, the 2017 Plan continues themes and content discussed in the 2005 Plan, provides information learned during the first 10 years of implementation, includes habitat goals, and identifies new and updated strategies to meet salmon recovery goals.
Updates and Popular Links
WRIA 8's 2025 Federal and State legislative priorities
The WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council establishes annual legislative priorities to guide communication and advocacy for key policies and budget topics that support salmon recovery.
Climate Resilience and Salmon Recovery Fact Sheet
Climate change is creating significant challenges for human communities and salmon survival. Salmon habitat protection and restoration is focused on restoring ecosystem functions that can lessen impacts from climate change, such as reconnecting floodplains, restoring stream corridors and shorelines, and reconnecting groundwater with streams. These nature-based solutions make salmon habitat and human communities more resilient to climate change, protect and improve critical infrastructure, and support local economies by generating jobs and promoting work force development.
Predation Impacts on Juvenile Chinook in WRIA 8 Synthesis Report
Predation on juvenile Chinook salmon by native and non-native fish is a primary constraint to the productivity and recovery of Chinook in WRIA 8. Increasing abundances of key predatory species and degradation of rearing and migratory habitats exacerbate the effects of predation on Chinook salmon. This report synthesizes available information on predatory fish populations and their impacts on juvenile Chinook in WRIA 8 and highlights critical findings and management needs relevant to predation in the watershed.
WRIA 8 Multi-Species Salmon Recovery Synthesis Report
The WRIA 8 Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan (WRIA 8 Plan) establishes the science-based conservation strategy and goals, identifies priority implementation actions, and provides a monitoring and assessment plan for salmon recovery. While the Plan focuses on recovering Chinook salmon, actions taken to improve conditions for Chinook are assumed to improve conditions for other salmon species and contribute to improving overall watershed conditions. However, areas where benefits for Chinook and other salmon species overlap are often not explicit or well understood. The report describes the occurrence and status of five salmon species and their life histories in WRIA 8 and identifies where Chinook recovery actions may benefit each species.
Recommendations Report on Pinniped Management at the Ballard Locks
The recommendations report from a technical workshop of subject matter experts WRIA 8 convened to develop recommendations for reducing/eliminating the effects of increasing pinniped predation on threatened and dwindling salmon populations at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks). The purpose of the recommendations report is to make technical recommendations for state/federal/tribal managers and policymakers on an effective and adaptive strategy to reduce/eliminate pinniped predation and prevent further decline of these salmon populations as they migrate through the Ballard Locks. The recommendations were informed by reviewing lessons learned from pinniped predation control programs at Bonneville Dam, Willamette Falls, and at the Ballard Locks in the 1980 - 90s through present day. The urgency for addressing pinniped presence and predation at the Ballard Locks was driven by the dramatic decline in the Lake Washington sockeye salmon population and Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed Chinook salmon populations remaining far below recovery goals.
Synthesis of Best Available Science: Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen Conditions in the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Impacts on Salmon by Lauren Urgenson, WRIA 8 Technical Coordinator; Josh Kubo and Curtis DeGasperi, King County.
Salmon SEEson - Guide Opportunities to see salmon from August to November in King County watersheds
The Salmon SEEson program coordinates and promotes public salmon viewing locations supported by local government and community organization partners in King County watersheds.
Integrating principles of equity and environmental justice into salmon recovery
- WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan
- 2021 Salmon Recovery Conference DEI Presentation - WRIA 8 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee Co-coordinators, Lauren Urgenson and Carla Nelson presented the body of work developed by the DEI Subcommittee at the Salmon Recovery Conference on Thursday, April 29, 2021 under the Human Dimensions session.
2020 Progress Report on salmon recovery in the watershed - Restoring a place where salmon and people can live together
The 2020 Progress Report provides the status of the watershed's two Chinook populations (Cedar River and Sammamish River) since 2005 and documents the baseline conditions for new habitat restoration goals established as part of the 2017 update to the WRIA 8 Plan.
Green Shorelines for Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish
Information and resources for lakeshore property owners on Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish to improve shorelines for people and salmon, including a guidebook with salmon-friendly alternatives to hardened shorelines.