Dam relicensing drives Skagit County habitat restoration moratorium

On July 18, the Skagit County commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on offsite compensatory mitigation of salmon habitat.

“Offsite compensatory mitigation” means habitat restoration projects that mitigate for environmental impacts that are a considerable distance away.

The moratorium expresses the commissioners’ concern that Seattle City Light (SCL) may go on a spending spree purchasing land in the lower estuary of the Skagit River.

SCL is halfway through the five-year process of renewing its license for its three hydroelectric dams on the Skagit River that supplies electricity to the...