In Osprey Park, salmon embrace Sultan River's newly restored channel

SULTAN — Before the first heavy autumn rainfall in Western Washington, the Snohomish County Public Utility District was rushing to prepare for the influx of salmon in the Sultan River.

Keith Binkley, natural resources manager for PUD, lost sleep waiting for permission to restore a side channel in Osprey Park’s southern loop before this year’s run.

Stretching up to Culmback Dam and the Spada Lake reservoir, the Sultan River’s flow is essential for the city of Everett’s water supply, Snohomish County power generation and — most important to Binkley — several species of salmon. The project in Osprey Park was a part of a decade-long, and ongoing, PUD effort to create salmon habitat within the park’s 85 acres and ensure fish are thriving downstream from the dam.

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Earlier this month at Osprey Park, salmon were spotted swimming in the Sultan and its channels, many fish moving progressively slower — if at all. The growing rotten stench and piles of salmon corpses marked the end of a completed life cycle for most of the fish.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/in-osprey-park-salmon-embrace-sultan-rivers-newly-restored-channel/