The County, Surface Water Management Division has been involved in flood management/risk reduction, floodplain uses, and salmon planning/development/ implementation. They have recently received two phases of grants from the Floodplain by Design Partnership and have an application in for the upcoming biennium. Their goal is to look for ways to reduce flood hazards in these locations in ways that can also improve fish habitat. This work is being done as an extension of the Community Floodplain Solutions (CFS) Program, commissioning recent studies and actions available from the following websites.
Community Floodplain Solutions (CFS) open house - https://mplshdrshared.com/snoco-cfs-virtual-open-house/
CFS web page - https://snohomishcountywa.gov/5574/Community-Floodplain-Solutions-CFS
CFS Project web page - https://snohomishcountywa.gov/5575/Sky-Valley-CFS-Project
Flood Hazard mapping - https://snohomishcountywa.gov/5763/Flood-Hazard-Mapping
The main take-away is that along the Lower Skykomish River there are hazards and some are severe. Coincidently, the severe hazard areas are often also great locations for increasing or enhancing salmon habitat. The hydrology & hydrologic data shows us that climate change will likely increase flood flows by 10% in the next 30-years which will lead to increases in channel migration, flooding, property damage, and associated public safety issues.
The CFS team is made up of County, Tribe, Land Trust, and Conservation District Staff working with a wide range of consultants, landowners, cities, community groups, landowners, businesses, and agencies to coordinate multi benefit actions and projects along the changing river and floodplain.