It took 50 million years for salmon to evolve and only about 50 years to nearly wipe them out. Now, Washington’s native salmon and steelhead populations are getting a reprieve — one stream at a time.
Travelers on state Route 8 and U.S. 12 between Olympia and Montesano have been swerving and slowing through five separate construction zones since spring 2023. It’s part of a $109 million culvert replacement project that aims to free up barriers to fish passage in Grays Harbor County.
The Olympia to Montesano work is a fraction of the $3.95 billion the state legislature has authorized to improve fish passage in western Washington. WSDOT says it needs another $4 billion to complete its projects by court-mandated 2030.
Why it’s needed
Like the drivers headed to Long Beach and Ocean Shores, fish need their own watery freeways to travel between their spawning grounds and the ocean. Spawning salmon and steelhead head upstream while juvenile fish make their way downstream.
Culverts — those corrugated pipes parents warn kids not to play in — carry water under roads. They’re effective but often become barriers to fish because water flows too swiftly, is too shallow or shoots out of the business end like a fire hose.