This agreement provides funding to the puyallup tribe to advance the puget sound partnership action agenda recovery goals

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 awarded $600,000 to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians under the Geographic Programs - Puget Sound Protection and Restoration: Tribal Implementation Assistance Program (CFDA 66.121) to advance salmon habitat recovery and ecosystem protection objectives in the Puget Sound basin. The award, effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2030, supports integrated salmon habitat condition studies and watershed actions across the Puyallup, White, Carbon, Chambers, and Clover River systems. No subawards are included in this cooperative agreement.

The tribe will deliver scientific and technical deliverables including benthic invertebrate surveys of priority spawning and rearing tributaries, continuous water temperature monitoring to characterize daily and seasonal variations in salmon-bearing streams, water quality assessments, and technical memoranda documenting cold-water refugia locations and resilience with comparative analysis of 2024 remotely sensed thermal data and field verification results. Additional outputs include survey maps, semi-annual reports to EPA, and staff participation in industry trainings to maintain technical competencies. The anticipated beneficiaries are tribal members and fishermen who rely on the surveyed salmon populations, with particular emphasis on areas identified as critical cold-water refugia.

The project will integrate salmon habitat condition studies with watershed actions, focusing on habitat protection and restoration project prioritization throughout the puyallup, white, and carbon rivers, which originate on mount rainier, and chambers and clover creek, which originate on joint base lewis mcchord and in the cities of tacoma, spanaway, dupont, steilacoom, and lakewood. Particular attention will be placed on areas identified as cold water refugia.activities:the activities to be performed include benthic invertebrate surveys of priority spawning and rearing tributaries, investigation of cold water refugia, continuous temperature monitoring in puyallup, white, and carbon rivers, which originate on mount rainier, and chambers and clover creek, which originate on joint base lewis mcchord and in the cities of tacoma, spanaway, dupont, steilacoom, and lakewood. Staff will also conduct water quality monitoring, and ground truth remotely sensed thermal mosaic imagery, monitor water quality, and stay current with the latest industry standards by attending trainings and workshops.subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables will include technical memoranda describing the location and resilience of cold-water springs in select floodplains comparing 2024 remotely sensed thermal data with field verification data, which will also include timing, extent, and life history of spawning and rearing in surveyed reaches. Additional deliverables include survey maps and all completed semi-annual reports will be provided to EPA. Anticipated outcomes are characterization of daily and seasonal variation of water temperature at high priority salmon bearing streams, and improved technical competencies. The intended beneficiaries are tribal members and fishermen who harvest fish that use puyallup, white, and carbon rivers, and chambers and clover creek for spawning and rearing.