$4B Seattle City Light hydropower deal gets Mayor Wilson's signature

Mayor Katie Wilson signed a historic $4 billion agreement Tuesday, marking a turning point in Seattle's hydropower operations on the Skagit River. It lays out a road map over the next half-century, including investments in salmon passage, habitat and cultural resources.

For over a century, the city of Seattle has "extracted a great deal of value from the Skagit River," said Chris Townsend, Seattle City Light director of natural resources and hydro licensing. And it is time, Townsend continued, "to return that value."

About half, or $1.8 billion, is for maintenance and operation. The agreement also commits more than a billion dollars to restore salmon and steelhead at risk of extinction, including actions advocated by Native nations for years. The city's utility will also return the river to its banks: restoring flows to a roughly 3-mile stretch known as Skagit Falls that's spiritually significant to the Upper Skagit people.

Construction on the dams began more than a century ago, fueling the city's growth. But it came at a cost.

The company town of Newhalem was built atop an Upper Skagit village, Daxʷálib. The first of three dams, Gorge, removed the river from a sacred gorge and instead flowed water to a tunnel blasted in a mountain to feed a powerhouse. The project desecrated villages holding graves of Upper Skagit ancestors and led to the demise of salmon, Upper Skagit elder Scott Schuyler said earlier this year.

"This journey actually began 124 years ago for the Upper Skagit, when we were not allowed a voice or a choice when the first dam was built," said Schuyler, who helmed negotiations with the city. "We see redemption today by signing this agreement. We do have that voice from now on."

It took lawsuits, a petition and years of negotiations among tribal, federal, state and local governments, and environmental groups. Tribal nations were not simply participants in the process, Wilson said, but their leadership, expertise and advocacy are reflected in what was signed Tuesday.

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Chair Steve Edwards wanted to make sure his kids' and grandkids' generations don't just get to read about salmon.

"It's part of our culture, it's part of our traditions, it's our identity," Edwards said. Now, he said, "there's a future in the Skagit River that will last for many, many generations."

Wilson was the last to sign. With endorsements of the city, tribal nations, Skagit County and state and federal agencies, it heads to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The city anticipates its new license may be issued around 2030, but some work can begin now.

"The celebration will come in the future," Schuyler noted. The Upper Skagit people, Schuyler said, will rejoice when the river returns to its banks, the first salmon passes over the dams, and salmon runs begin to recover.

"Most of all, the Upper Skagit people will celebrate when we return to our home: Daxʷálib."

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