OC Makes Comment on the Chehalis River Basin Flood Damage Reduction Project | NWS-2014-1118

The Chehalis River remains one of Washington’s most important salmon (and steelhead) producing watershed in the state. The Chehalis Basin extends from hills south of Pe Ell to the southern end of the Olympic Peninsula, occupying huge chunks of Lewis, Thurston, and Grays Harbor counties. Its 2,700 square miles are veined with a network of 3,400 miles of rivers, streams, and creeks that all contain numerous salmon spawning areas.

The Chehalis and its tributaries provide spawning habitat for some of the only wild salmon runs in the state that are not protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), for now. The Chehalis watershed, while an important food source for SRKWs, is also home to The Chehalis Tribe and the Quinault Indian Nation, as well as many vibrant small communities and some of the most productive agricultural land in the state.

Historically, when European settlers first came to the Chehalis Basin, we ignored the sage advice of the indigenous peoples that have called this land home for thousands of years. We were warned to not build in the floodplain, but we chose to do so anyway leading to our current dire situation.