What was once a salt marsh was diked and turned into 250 acres of agricultural land for 140 years. A group of people purchased the land and have removed the dikes turning it into what will become a salt marsh again. This is on the main road coming west out of Stanwood and heading on to Camano Island. From the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Estuary restoration at Leque Island
It’s not something you see every day — tidal water rushing onto dry land for the first time in 140 years, the pressure of it finally pushing over the flimsy bridge of earth separating salt water from the fresh water inside.
Leque Island, in the city of Stanwood, was returned to the estuary on Monday evening, Oct. 14, 2019. This was the third dike breach I’ve experienced. The first was in 2016 at Fir Island Farm in Skagit County, three months after I started working at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The second was in 2018, Snohomish County’s Smith Island project. Massive in scale, many years in the making, such a great accomplishment, and an honor to be there to watch it.
And here is a 1:28 annotated drone video (no sound) of the area in question (flying south to north):
It is fascinating to drive over the bridge and see the changes happening on a daily basis. This will be a major gain for the juvenile Chinook salmon as they transition from fresh to salt water, as well as shorebirds, waterfowl, and a host of other species in the area. Because Puget Sound's southern resident killer whales rely upon Chinook salmon for food, the project is also closely aligned with orca recovery efforts.
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