EVERETT -- The Snohomish County Council passed a motion on Oct. 8 authorizing County Executive Dave Somers to sign a sub-award agreement with the city of Everett for the Chinook Marsh restoration project, which includes plans to relocate an Everett water transmission line.

Chinook Marsh is a county-owned, 430-acre property between Ebey Slough and Forbes Hill. The area sits behind old levees, cutting the marshland off from the natural ebb and flows of tides. Esturine marshes provided critical nursery habitat for salmonids, such as threatened juvenile Chinook salmon, and researchers and wildlife management agencies have deemed restoring habitat areas like Chinook Marsh essential for the recovery of the species.

In 2024, the county received a $826,124 Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience grant that originated from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for floodplain restoration. With the approval of the sub-award agreement, the county will now allocate $500,000 of the grant to the city of Everett to relocate a drinking water transmission line that runs through the floodplain.

While the relocation of the water line is necessary for the Chinook Marsh project, the move also benefits the city by creating an opportunity to update the 55-year-old infrastructure to meet current seismic standards.

The line supplies drinking water to over 450,000 residents in Snohomish County, including major customers such as Boeing, the Port of Everett, Everett School District and Providence Regional Medical Center. In 2012, the city conducted a water supply risk assessment study, which found that the line would be severely damaged by a large earthquake, and another study determined it would take more than a month to marginally restore drinking water service after damage, with over $400 million in direct economic losses.

"Coordinating with partners, including the City of Everett, is essential as the Chinook Marsh project moves forward," Erik Stockdale, the county's Surface Water Management planning manager, said in an email. "This agreement allows the City of Everett to conduct a waterline route analysis and weigh the benefits and costs of relocating this critical waterline out of the floodplain."

The county is wrapping up the first phase of the project, which included conducting a feasibility analysis of possible design ideas and gathering input from partners and community members. For the next year, county staff will create preliminary designs with the hopes of starting the permitting sometime between 2026 and 2027.

For more information on the project and timeline, visit https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/6232/Chinook-Marsh-Restoration-Project.

Snohomish County will pass grant funds to Everett to relocate water line