Thursday December 18, 2025
Northwest Sportsman —
Record flooding across parts of Western Washington dealt some WDFW facilities a blow, with significant damage reported to a fishway and a pair of boat ramps, while some coho smolts at a hatchery self-released early after their rearing pond was overtopped by high water, but the big concern is for how it affected wild salmon spawning beds.
“This record-setting flood event will likely have severe impacts on salmon, particularly eggs laid earlier this fall, many of which will be lost due to scour from floodwaters or buried under heavy sediment. As a result, there will be affects to salmon returns in 2028-2029,” reported Chase Gunnell, an agency spokesman in Mill Creek, late this morning.