Did anyone catch the article in the Everett Herald regarding opening up the lake (Shadow Lake?) in Bob Heirman park and adjoining it to the Snohomish for Silver salmon recovery? It didn't really explain the value of proposal but I am curious if anyone is in the know on this one as to whether it would in fact aid salmon recovery.

Channeling Snohomish Wildlife

I haven't heard any details about this particular proposal, but this type of project falls into the category of creating or reconnecting off-channel and side-channel habitat to rivers and streams. Off-channel habitats are extremely important to rearing juvenile salmon, and are among the first habitats to disappear with development. Much of the Snohomish River has been dyked and with this, most off-channel habitats were lost decades ago.

There have been several off-channel habitat creation or reconnection projects on the Snohomish over the past 10 years including the Union Slough restoration project (the one along the freeway near Marysville). I've been involved with monitoring the Union Slough site and can tell you that only 2 seasons after breaching the dyke, the off-channel marsh/mudflat saw substantial use by juvenile chum, chinook, and coho salmon. Three juvenile chinook life history strategies have been found--age 0 outmigrants (usually fall chinook), age 1+ migrants (usually spring/summer chinook), as well as Wallace River hatchery chinook.

Given the location of the lake, I'm sure it would find significant use by juvenile salmon--seasonal use by chinook and possible year-round use by coho, depending on summer water temperatures. Another important consideration is that you can't do these types of projects just anywhere because of the flood control functions of the dykes--that's why the river was channelized and dyked to begin with. Here you have the opportunity to reconnect the habitat without flooding concerns, since the entire lake is already in the floodplain. One more consideration is that you will not be interfering with an existing economic use, such as agriculture (quite a concern with such proposals on the Skagit). As the article suggests, the only drawback would be the potential loss of stillwater bird habitat.

I guess it depends on what species you give priority too. Swans are nice, but they aren't ESA listed, like the Puget Sound chinook. The Snohomish River is 21 river miles of stream, about half of which is tidal freshwater, and over 90 percent of which is dyked. It represents a tremendous loss of rearing habitat for juvenile salmon. This would seem like a good opportunity to give some back without hurting farmers, homeowners, developers, etc.

Thanks obsessed. I just recently discovered that park and wondered about that lake. It was interesting the article mentioned that Bob Heirman was against the project. Sounds like a good idea to me!

I found it surprising as well that the parks namesake was against the idea. I guess the park is called the "Bob Heirman Wildlife Sanctuary" or something like that, so would cater to wildlife, as oppose to fish. And I guess there's a consideration of whether the lake is a natural oxbow or whether we "helped it along" with fill material. If its the latter, then I think reconnection to the river would be a cost-efficient means of restoring beneficial habitat functions that should be afforded priority under ESA salmon recovery programs.

I noticed they are doing alot of brush clearing and replanting on Haskell slough right now also. Nice to see some habitat being restored in the lower valley. The lake on Bob Heirman Park is supposedly one of the few micro climates left that snow geese prefer. Im sure there are some big resident cutts in there also. I hope they come to a compromise, like partially breaching the lake to allow enough stil water for the geese and leaving a good place for juvinile fish to flourish.

In bad flood years these sloughs will be critical in having future salmon seasons. I bet next humpie season on the Sno will be a no-go(oh darn). If we had enough flood sactuaries this might not be an issue...

I fished Shadow like a few times and it has alot of BASS in it. Would they have to rehabilitate the lake? Seems the bass would eat the salmonid youngsters.

Sounds like the oxbow lake has been around for a while if there's bass in it. If they do breach the oxbow, then they should rotenone the lake first. Not a big deal, but will probably spark some debate regarding whether the lake should be reconnected. The oxbow may be naturally occurring. I've never looked at the area critically, but does it look to you like the lake reconnects during floods, or is it a ways from the river?

Jim, It's a long ways from the river at the base of the bluff. I think in extreme high water events the lake may connect to the river. When your hiking into Thomas Eddy the lake is about 200 yards on your left when you get to the bottom of the bluff. There also is lots of water on the right side of the path(road) to the Eddy.