City of Tacoma's Estuarine Restoration Projects in Commencement Bay

The City of Tacoma (City) is located around the estuary created as the Puyallup River meets Commencement Bay on the Puget Sound in Washington State. The City has committed to constructing, monitoring and adaptively managing 5 habitat restoration projects in Commencement Bay, three of these projects are the topic of this paper: the Middle Waterway Restoration, the Tahoma Salt Marsh Restoration, and the Olympic View Restoration. These three projects involve cleanup of contaminated soils/sediments and creation of new intertidal habitat surfaces to support native species, including salmonids recently listed under the Endangered Species Act. Historically, the Commencement Bay / Puyallup River Estuary included thousands of acres of mudflat and fringing marsh habitat. Dredge and fill programs reduced the acreage of habitat by over 90% to create waterways and adjacent uplands for commerce and industry. Development of Tacoma's industrial base in the late 19th and 20th centuries also led to the contamination of sediments in the waterways and associated uplands. Impacts from this development have contributed to the decline of native species of plants and animals. The City's restoration projects are intended to cleanup and restore 14 acres of this estuarine habitat with a primary focus on juvenile salmonid rearing.