Middle Fork Nooksack River: A 30 Year Conservation Story of Protection, Restoration, and Renewal
Thomas O’Keefe
The Middle Fork Nooksack River is one of Washington’s whitewater treasures, flowing through a dramatic gorge and brought to life during winter rain events. It’s the kind of place that only attracts the most dedicated paddlers, willing to endure the hardships of cold weather, temperamental drysuit zippers, and flows that can be notoriously difficult to forecast. For those who make the commitment however, it is a magical place where forest health is improving and a dam has recently been removed. It’s an opportunity to reflect back on some of the history over the past 30 years and our community’s connection to this place.
Hydropower Proposed
The early 1990s saw the subsiding wake of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 that fueled a veritable gold rush for independent power producers trying to stake a claim on sites for hydropower development. Dozens of sites were considered in the Nooksack River basin and dreams of putting this river and its major tributaries in pipes were hatched by those looking to profit from the new developer-friendly provisions that had been enacted into law. The Middle Fork Nooksack Dam was among the sites identified for hydropower development.
Until 2020, the Middle Fork Diversion Dam on the Nooksack River in Washington was a 25‐foot high, 125‐foot long concrete dam built in 1961 to divert water to Lake Whatcom, the City of Bellingham’s primary water supply. Dam construction did not include fish passage facilities, but STS Hydropower Ltd. had ideas for adding fish passage at the Middle Fork Dam and generating hydropower at the site as part of their Heisler’s Creek Hydroelectric Project.
As planning for the project got underway, American Whitewater’s then National Conservation Director Rich Bowers remembered it as the first time a developer reached out to the whitewater paddling community to inquire about instream flow needs for recreation. Through the advocacy efforts of American Whitewater, resources agencies, including the National Park Service and Washington Department of Ecology, were becoming increasingly aware of the need to evaluate instream flow needs for recreation. In a 1992 letter to the developer, the Washington Department of Ecology wrote, “…at our meeting last November, I emphasized the importance of ensuring that instream flows for your project protect not only flows for fish and wildlife habitat, but scenic and aesthetic values as well.” The developer reached out to American Whitewater and Rich was tasked with assembling a team to investigate the Middle Fork Nooksack. Michael Deckert was volunteering on the Nisqually project that was undergoing relicensing at the time and agreed to go check out the Middle Fork Nooksack.
Michael’s team, including Tom Wolfe, Gary Korb, and Shawn Wickstrom, set out to explore the river on May 29th, 1993. Michael can’t say for certain if it was the first descent but “we didn’t know anything about it.” They put in near the Clearwater confluence and paddled down to the dam site where the river enters a dramatic gorge with one of the more challenging rapids on the run where the walls constrict the river; they named it Icebox Paradise. The take-out was at Mosquito Lake Road. On that exploratory trip they found breathtaking scenery and classic whitewater. Michael remembers that day, nearly three decades ago, reflecting, “that was a really great run.” The group returned for another run on July 11, 1993. Shortly thereafter, interest in hydropower development waned as the reality of the poor economic prospects of the project became apparent.
Dreams of hydropower development die hard, and soon developers were at it again, exploring the potential of the Clearwater, a major tributary of the Middle Fork Nooksack for hydropower development. At the time, it was becoming one of the more popular creek runs in the Middle Fork Nooksack drainage. Planning for a proposed hydroelectric project was undertaken. Despite objections from the local tribes (Nooksack Indian Tribe and Lummi Nation) and the State Department of Natural Resources, which had adopted a new Habitat Conservation Plan to better protect the forest along the Clearwater, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission continued to move forward with an Environmental Impact Statement that recommended development of the project as a “dependable source of electrical energy” with “extensive environmental mitigation measures” that would “minimize or avoid impacts.” As the developer began to miss deadlines, it became clear that the whole effort lacked the necessary finances. American Whitewater worked with local tribes and state and county agencies, and then filed a Motion for Dismissal of the ill-advised project. A month later the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission indeed dismissed the project.
Having successfully defended the river from new hydropower development, it became apparent that we had an opportunity not only to protect the drainage, but to restore the river.
It’s Time to Remove the Dam
Since 2002, the City of Bellingham, WA and fishery co-managers had been seeking a solution to the dilemma of how to restore fish passage at the Middle Fork Nooksack Diversion Dam as a result of an agreement between the City, Lummi Nation, the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. American Whitewater joined the conversation with a letter to the City that same year. While we saw a conservation opportunity, the Tribes saw the river itself as a bridge to their ancestors. The Middle Fork Nooksack (Nuxwt’iqw’em) and its salmon relatives are a significant part of their cultural identity, and the river is recognized as a Traditional Cultural Property. Removing the dam would open more than 26 miles of habitat for threatened salmon, steelhead, and bull trout but would also be a healing act for the river itself.
Various solutions were considered from 2002–2016, including fish ladder variations and building hardened infrastructure in the river channel at the dam site so that water would flow into the existing diversion tunnel by gravity.
American Whitewater and Conservation Northwest met with the City over several years in support of the effort to remove the dam as the Tribes and fish management agencies continued to push fish passage at the site. The City proposed a previous design alternative in 2016 for the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration program, a statewide program to fund large capital projects, through the Puget Sound Partnership. That funding application was ranked 11th in priority for a number of reasons, including proposed design and lack of expertise needed to carry out the project. Despite the fact that the project was the number one priority action in the Salmon Recovery Plan for the watershed, a design that would allow dam removal and maintain the City’s water supply had not been yet developed. Despite years of meetings and conversations, it seemed the project would never get underway but it just needed the right spark to light the fire.
Paul Allen Takes a Personal Interest
Patagonia has long supported American Whitewater and many other groups to prevent dams and remove those where environmental and social costs outweigh any benefits. Founder Yvon Chouinard made the initial investment that provided the resources for our engagement in hydropower licensing over 30 years ago, and in 2014 he produced the film Dam Nation, highlighting the impacts of dams and opportunities for river restoration their removal presented.
Shortly after viewing the film, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen approached the team at his foundation to see what he could do to accelerate the pace of removal of outdated dams. He was inspired by the film and had a long interest in ocean health and Pacific Northwest ecosystems. American Whitewater joined a meeting with other river conservationists hosted by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. In late 2016, American Rivers received a grant to hire a Project Manager and seed funding for technical planning work to begin on the Middle Fork Nooksack Dam removal project.
With funding in hand, American Rivers put out the job announcement and found the right person to start making things happen. April McEwen, an accomplished Class V kayaker who grew up on the famed Chattooga River in the Southeast, had put her career working on fish passage and dam removal in California on hold and had moved New Zealand to work for a year as a safety kayaker on the Rangitata River. As an interdisciplinary river scientist and project manager, April saw the job announcement and recognized the challenge to manage the project and build American Rivers’ dam removal program in the Pacific Northwest as a unique opportunity. She interviewed from New Zealand, accepted the job offer, and began work in Seattle on July 5, 2017.
April held a project kickoff meeting with American Rivers and City of Bellingham leadership a month later. At that time, the already aggressive project timeline proposed under the grant agreement was approximately eight months behind schedule. It was emblematic of a project that had languished for nearly two decades, despite being a top priority in the region. Skepticism among the original key partners was high that someone new to the region and new to the tight club of salmon recovery engineers and advocates could actually make the project happen after so many years of inaction. The project was high-profile with many stakeholders, and had real constructability challenges: it was located in a remote and hazardous Class V river setting and also required innovative river restoration and water infrastructure engineering and technology to meet coequal goals of providing fish passage and maintaining the City’s water supply from the site. In addition, the new private foundation was investing in a new program area and required the project to reach implementation under a seemingly impossible timeline to achieve a national record for a project of this complexity. In April’s words it was an “awesome challenge” that required evaluation of the socio-political and environmental factors to develop a well-informed project management plan. The adaptive strategies developed would effectively leverage new partnerships and their skill sets or funding to overcome major challenges in getting from stakeholder re-engagement and project initiation through a science based design process, federal/state/local permitting, and fundraising to reach project implementation and completion in less than two years.
Project Planning Underway
The first step to getting the project underway was all about development: developing relationships with original project partners, developing new relationships, and developing a project management plan that would guide the project in meeting its partner coordination needs, technical design and permitting timeline, and would make it highly competitive for public funding that could only be acquired in a certain timeframe with a fully supported and shovel-ready design status. As a scientist and kayaker who understood both the engineering work behind fish passage and the aesthetics of the Middle Fork Nooksack, April worked with the consultant design team to use a geomorphic-based design approach that would remove the dam and restore the river to a natural self-maintaining condition without the use of hardened engineered structures for fish passage. The City of Bellingham’s Project Engineer, Steve Day oversaw development of the water supply aspects. In collaboration with the partner Design Review team, the project targeted more than fish passage but also innovative water supply infrastructure that would substantially reduce environmental impact to achieve environmental sustainability and allow for greater community and species resiliency. Ultimately, efforts were rewarded when the project was scored as the highest ranked Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration Fund capital project in Washington State to receive $10.6 million. The seed funding of $2.9 million from the Paul Allen Family Foundation was leveraged to secure salmon recovery dollars from state and federal sources, investment from the City of Bellingham, and to secure the $23 million in funding required for the project to be completed. The dam was removed and the river restored by August 2020 (timelapse video). In describing her relationship to the river, April stated “the [Middle Fork] river gives me beauty, happiness, adventure forever. All I have to do is use river logic, apply everything I have learned, and work with others to take the concrete out so she can be free forever.”
Now that the dam is gone, April reflects back on an experience that is a testimony to the effectiveness of partnerships and commitment to the outcome so many folks wanted in “the most beautiful place I will ever get to work.” The Middle Fork Nooksack is indeed a spectacular setting for whitewater kayakers, salmon and steelhead, and the people of the Nooksack Indian Tribe and Lummi Nation who have depended on the resources this river provides since time immemorial. Sadly, Paul Allen did not live to see the project completed, but this removal effort and his investment in watershed restoration that continues are part of his legacy to the region.
The Future: Wild and Scenic Proposed
Looking to the future, American Whitewater has led an effort with American Rivers and local community members to permanently protect the Nooksack River and its major tributaries from hydropower development under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Our vision is a river system that can be protected and enhanced for its fish and wildlife, recreation, and community values. Our projects can take many years to complete, but we are proud of what we have accomplished in the Nooksack River watershed with our partners as we reflect back on our 30 years of involvement in these conservation and restoration efforts.
