Leque Island levees will be removed in effort to create salmon habitat

STANWOOD — The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has decided to remove most of the dikes around Leque Island, a slice of former farmland between Stanwood and Camano Island.

The 300-acre island is a popular spot for hunting and bird-watching. It’s surrounded by levees built more than a century ago to protect crops. Many of the levees are failing. Removing them will let saltwater flood the area during high tides and hopefully create habitat for salmon, according to the department.

Officials started looking at options for either removing or repairing Leque Island’s levees in the early 2000s, and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board supported the effort with grants in 2004 and 2007. A plan that would have removed levees around half the island and repaired the rest was in the works in 2005 when concerns about saltwater intrusion into a Camano Island aquifer stalled the project.

The Environmental Protection Agency ruled that removing the levees doesn’t pose a threat to the freshwater aquifer, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife returned to the project in 2013. Planners formed a 31-member volunteer advisory committee and held public meetings to gather questions, concerns and suggestions. The committee had representatives from groups that have repeatedly opposed removing dikes around the island. Opponents include the Washington Waterfowl Association and Camano Water Systems Association.

The advisory committee narrowed the list of possibilities for Leque Island to six designs. Among the options were leaving the failing levees alone, rebuilding them, removing them or breaching them in select spots.

“Now we have our preferred option to move forward with, but that’s at a conceptual level,” project coordinator Loren Brokaw said. “It removes the majority of the levees but leaves a linear stretch.”

The design is considered a full restoration of the island, allowing saltwater to flood almost all of it during high tides. A stretch of levee on the east side of the island, along the Stillaguamish River, would be repaired rather than removed under the current plan, but that may change if more detailed design work suggests that levee should be removed, as well, according to an analysis and design report.

More studies are needed of the soils, water flow, topography and tides before a final design is put together, Brokaw said. Then permitting could take up to a year.

At the earliest, work will start on removing the dikes in summer 2017, he said. The initial cost estimate for the project is $3 million, but that’s a very rough calculation, Brokaw said. It’s one of the least expensive options the department considered. Cost estimates for the six alternatives ranged from $2 million to $11 million.

In the coming months, the Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to seek ideas from the public on possible recreation features for the island once the levees are removed. There could be elevated trails and boardwalks, hunting and photography blinds and information kiosks, according to the report.

The department plans to form another volunteer advisory committee for the recreation features, similar to the one they brought together for the levee removal decision. For more information, people can visit www.wdfw.wa.gov.

“We’re not sure yet what is most feasible and what the expense would be,” Brokaw said. “There will still be lots of things to see and do out there.”

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.