Contributed by Jason Walker, Snoqualmie Watershed Forum Chair and Duvall City Councilman

Larry Phillips, King County Council Chair and Water Resource Inventory Area 8 Salmon Recovery Council Chair

Marlla Mhoon, Water Resource Inventory Areas 9 Watershed Ecosystem Forum Co-Chair and Covington City Councilmember

Our region’s salmon are in hot water. The lack of snowpack and spring rain, combined with sustained high summer temperatures, have reduced the amount of water and increased temperatures in streams and rivers to lethal levels for salmon. In these conditions, many will die before reaching their spawning grounds.

Area rivers support five species of native salmon and three types of trout. Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout are listed as threatened in the Endangered Species Act.

Regional watershed councils have worked for two decades to protect and restore salmon habitat, improve water quality, and create conditions that allow salmon to return to spawn in local rivers and streams each year.

This year’s conditions are truly alarming for recovery. Many creeks and rivers are experiencing the lowest flows and highest water temperatures ever recorded. Sustained water temperatures above 68 degrees Fahrenheit can stress young salmon and increase disease. Temperatures above 73 degrees can be lethal. For most of the summer, the Cedar, Sammamish and Snoqualmie Rivers have approached or reached these temperatures.

The Muckleshoot Tribe counted only 3,100 adult Chinook salmon and fewer than 34,000 adult sockeye salmon entering the Lake Washington watershed through the Ballard Locks as of Aug. 24. This is about 41 percent of the Chinook and about 27 percent of the sockeye that should have returned by now, compared to the last 10 years.

Seattle Public Utilities, Tacoma Water and Everett have activated their Water Shortage Contingency Plans, asking customers to voluntarily reduce consumption by 10 percent. These efforts are essential to maintaining the conditions needed to support healthy salmon populations in area rivers.

Climate scientists tell us that this summer’s conditions may become the new normal. We need to lower stream temperatures by planting more trees on stream banks, reconnecting streams with cold groundwater sources. Each of us needs to think about how we can use less water. We need to consider salmon in stream management decisions.

Failing to do these things means salmon will find it harder to return to local streams each year, and may eventually be only a memory in a place they once served to define.