SEATTLE DISTRICT

Puget Sound defines much of the Pacific Northwest region. The health and robustness of the local economy and local residents can be traced to the Sound. Until recently, there has been little scientific information on the marine nearshore, the shallow fringe where sunlight can reach the floor, essential for the lives of many marine plants and creatures.

In 2001, a convergence of factors turned a common vision of a major nearshore project into a reality: tribal, federal, local and state governments, along with private sector and nonprofit organizations began to work together by combining their talents and funds; the Endangered Species Act listing of salmon and eight other species in the nearshore added urgency; technology became available for monitoring, conducting remote sensing and working with historic data; and groups with common interests created a coalition-building atmosphere.

The result was the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project, a cooperative effort among government organizations, tribes, industries and environmental organizations to preserve and restore the health of the Sound's nearshore.

The official Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project Web site is the best place for current events and information.  Please visit www.pugetsoundnearshore.org

The Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership, lead by Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, provides to the public the data developed for the Puget Sound Nearshore General Investigation (GI) their investigation with the corresponding FGDC compliant metadata.  These data are presented for computational efficiencies with currently available micro-computer technology.  Data are organized by seven Puget Sound hydrographic/oceanographic sub-basins and Sound-wide. The team provides the data with the expectation that ecosystem restoration planners and scientists will find it useful for their analysis.  The Puget Sound Nearshore GI, and its corresponding products including these datasets, was developed for planning Puget Sound ecosystem restoration and no other purpose. 

This database was developed to investigate the fundamental causes of ecosystem decline due to human change to natural nearshore processes along Puget Sound's shoreline.  The Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project's (PSNERP) Nearshore Science Team (NST), designed a strategy for assessing the types and scale of nearshore change that: (1) could be documented comprehensively over the entire Puget Sound basin; (2) could be directly related to physical and ecological change in ecosystem-scale processes; (3) was spatially explicit; and (4) could be integrated within the NST's development of a geomorphic classification system of Puget Sound's shoreline features (Shipman 2008).  To assemble the appropriate data, the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership canvassed restoration planners and scientists to learn what data would effectively meet these criteria.  The group of scientists, engineers, restoration planners, and consultants that compose the Nearshore team examined numerous existing datasets from two broad time periods, the advent of United States territorial settlement (circa 1850-1880) and present-day (2000-2009).

Many datasets were not selected because either the data was redundant with other data that better informed the investigation, or because localized data were of inappropriate resolution or scale, or were not readily available for the entire Puget Sound marine shoreline and corresponding upland drainages.  The selected data provides a basin-wide documentation of selected attributes that could have changed between the historic and current periods. 

To learn more about the Nearshore Partnership's investigation, please visit http://pugetsoundnearshore.org/

1.) What and where is the Puget Sound Nearshore?

Answer: The Puget Sound nearshore is defined as the area of United States marine and estuarine shoreline extending approximately 2,500 miles from the Canadian border, throughout Puget Sound, Hood Canal and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. It generally extends from the top of shoreline bluffs to the depth offshore where light penetrating the Sound's water falls below a level supporting plant growth, and upstream in estuaries to the head of tidal influence. It includes bluffs, beaches, mudflats, kelp and eelgrass beds, salt marshes, gravel spits and estuaries.

2.) What's wrong with the Puget Sound Nearshore?

Answer: The Puget Sound nearshore is being loved to death. People have impacted crucial natural movements of sand, gravel, water and animals that live in the Puget Sound nearshore. Man-made structures are common and widespread, with overlapping effects that jeopardize the Puget Sound nearshore ecosystem.

3.) What is the purpose of the project?

Answer: The purpose of the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project is to identify significant ecosystem problems in Washington State's Puget Sound Basin, evaluate potential solutions, and design and implement actions to preserve and restore the health of the Sound's nearshore. Project partners are working cooperatively to complete a General Investigation study of the nearshore ecosystem to gain Congressional support and associated restoration funding.

4.) Who is involved in the project?

Answer: The Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project is a cooperative effort among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the local sponsors, who are lead by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Partners include other state and federal government agencies, tribes, industries and environmental organizations.

5.) How significant is the project?

Answer: The project is one of the largest restoration and preservation endeavors undertaken in the United States. The federal government has approved funding for the first phase of the project that is being undertaken by the Corps, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and other project partners. The first phase includes investigating how the nearshore has changed over time, how these changes affect the things we care about, and what we can do to protect and restore the nearshore. The second phase would be a Congressional commitment to restore and preserve Puget Sound. Eventually, the Puget Sound Nearshore Project could be as significant as the restoration of the Everglades in Florida, Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the Louisiana Coast.

6.) Who needs the Puget Sound Nearshore?

Answer: You do! In addition to the marine life that makes its home in Puget Sound, the millions of citizens living and working in the Puget Sound region also are attached to the nearshore. For centuries, people have been drawn to the nearshore for economic and recreational purposes. Today, our Northwest lifestyles and economy rely on the Puget Sound nearshore. Shellfish and salmon industries, ports and refineries and recreational activities all depend on the tidelands and shoreline.

7.) What are some of the specific problems with Puget Sound, and why is this project needed?

Answer: The integrity of the nearshore ecosystem is in jeopardy, resulting in many real and potential future effects throughout the Puget Sound. Shellfish can be further contaminated and marine habitat reduced, endangering the livelihoods of people who depend on shellfish and fish harvests. Species listed as endangered or threatened within the Puget Sound region inhabit the nearshore. Pollution in parts of Puget Sound has caused lesions and tumors in flatfish that orcas, eagles, seals, birds and porpoises eat. Residential developments and marine commerce along the Puget Sound shoreline have altered or damaged critical shoreline, estuarine and neashore habitats. These changes alter the natural processes that support healthy nearshore life, including limiting food and nutrient sources for marine life, stopping the flow of beach sediment, and altering the flows of surface and groundwater.

8.) What can be done to restore the Puget Sound Nearshore?

Answer: Early restoration efforts have been encouraging, yet these efforts have been small compared to the widespread, ongoing environmental deterioration. A broad systematic approach to reverse and prevent the harm is needed. The next step is to understand conditions within the nearshore and what's causing the environmental problems. The Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project is completing a Sound-wide analysis of these problems and associated feasible solutions. The nearshore team also is implementing on-the-ground actions through the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program, learning from the results as projects progress.

9.) What's happening now?

Answer: The project has finished an analysis of how the features of the nearshore have changed since the earliest records. The project is currently documenting how these changes will continue in the future if they aren't addressed, as well as how these changes affect ecosystem functions, goods, and services that the region depends on. The study will expand collaborations with stakeholders and the public to recommend a portfolio of restoration and protection solutions to address these problems and improve the condition of nearshore ecosystems. The nearshore team has made a long-term commitment to the restoration and preservation of the Puget Sound nearshore.

10.) How much does this cost and who's paying for the project?

Answer: Through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers General Investigation Authority, the Corps and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife maintain a 50/50 cost share agreement for the feasibility study, which will cost approximately $19 million. Most of the local costs are being shared by the local partners, including tribes, state and local government organizations, environmental groups and industries. The Estuary and Salmon Restoration Project has invested nearly $14 million in early action projects, to date.

11.) What is the relationship between the Puget Sound Partnership and the Nearshore Partnership?

Answer: In 2007, Washington State created a new state agency, the Puget Sound Partnership. Governor Christine Gregoire and the Washington State Legislature gave the Puget Sound Partnership the task of creating a real Action Agenda that turns things around and leads to a healthy Puget Sound. The Action Agenda will prioritize cleanup and improvement projects, coordinate federal, state, local, tribal and private resources, and make sure that everyone is working cooperatively. Washington State's Puget Sound Partnership is studying the health of the entire Puget Sound ecosystem. Whereas, the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership, established in 2001, is looking at significant ecosystem problems in the Puget Sound nearshore, which extends from the top of shoreline bluffs to the water depth where light still penetrates to the bottom. The Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership has become an integral part of Washington State's Puget Sound Partnership. Many members of the Puget Sound Neashore Partnership also serve on the Puget Sound Partnership. The two groups will continue to work together to create the best plan for a clean and healthy Puget Sound.

12.) Who do I contact for more information?

Answer: The best way to keep up-to-date on the Nearshore Project is to visit www.pugetsoundnearshore.org. The Web site includes an events calendar, current data and technical documents. Questions can be addressed to the project managers at info@pugetsoundnearshore.org.