Frequently Asked Questions on the Jeopardy Biological Opinion on Replacement of Tidegate at No Name Slough in the Skagit Delta
NOAA Fisheries is issuing a final biological opinion that evaluates the effects of the tidegate repair and replacement project on ESA-listed species in Puget Sound.
Why did NOAA Fisheries take so long to produce the biological opinion?
NOAA Fisheries has limited staff in North Puget Sound with the knowledge and capacity to complete a biological opinion for the tidegate. The demands on staff time in recent years have been extensive, including the time-consuming relicensing of major hydroelectric projects with implications for the Skagit River system. The extensive time demand of that and other actions delayed the completion of the biological opinion beyond the anticipated schedule.
Why is so much work required to offset or mitigate the impacts of replacing the tidegate on No Name Slough/Padilla Bay?
The replacement of the tidegate will extend its expected lifetime by about 50 years, continuing its impacts over that extent of time. The RPA calls for actions sufficient to offset its continuing impacts over those five additional decades. To recover endangered Chinook salmon in Puget Sound (and by extension, Southern Resident killer whales), we must stop the loss of nearshore habitat and improve blocked access to their estuarine rearing habitat.