Funding

Insufficient Funding

The Puget Sound Partnership received funding in the 2022 supplemental legislative session to support planning, science, and accountability. The Partnership is using the funding to do the following:

• Increase collaboration across federal, state, and local salmon recovery programs.
• Assist watershed groups in updating salmon recovery plans. To date, seven watershed plans have been updated.
• Communicate and share salmon recovery data.
• Support studies to inform progress toward Puget Sound salmon recovery and report on habitat conditions. The Partnership awards funding through the Salmon Scientific Investigations Request for Information and Watershed Habitat Assessments programs.

This funding is supporting efforts to restore healthy, harvestable salmon runs that sustain people and orcas. Additionally, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Climate Commitment Act are providing much needed funding for restoration projects.

More is Needed

Despite these recent funding boosts, insufficient funding still limits salmon recovery in Washington State. Restoration and protection projects have grown in scope and complexity, requiring a web of funding sources. Programs such as the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration Fund, Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program, and Floodplains by Design generate robust lists of projects to address recovery needs yet consistently are underfunded. Additional federal infrastructure funding is uncertain. Funding still is needed to continue implementing the recommendations of the Governor’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force that include recovery actions to support the primary food of orca, Chinook salmon.