DNR is leading the way to help the Puget Sound Partnership clean up and restore Puget Sound by 2020. Yesterday, the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council formally adopted the target for eelgrass restoration that DNR recommended to them last fall.
This target was the very first of 20 ecosystem health targets the Partnership will adopt over the next six months that will drive its work to recover the Sound to health by 2020. DNR recommended and the Partnership adopted a target to increase the amount of eelgrass by 20 percent (or about 10,000 acres) by 2020 over today’s amount.
This is an ambitious goal that will require improvements in water quality, as well as habitat restoration along the nearshore. While DNR will manage aquatic lands to do our part to achieve this target, many other agencies and entities will also need to participate. The strategies and actions to achieve the target will be developed as part of the update to the Puget Sound Action Agenda, scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
In a report published by DNR last fall, eelgrass was recommended as an ecosystem indicator of Puget Sound health because of its sensitivity to human activities. Eelgrass monitoring will be a clear indicator from which to build measurable clean-up and restoration targets around in order to restore the Sound back to health by 2020.
Why Eelgrass? Eelgrass has many uses in Puget Sound, including,
1. Holding sediments down in place with its roots
2. Providing crucial spawning grounds for Pacific Herring
3. Migrating corridors for juvenile salmon
4. Nesting grounds for the Great Blue Herron
5. Improving water quality by soaking up extra particles
As you can see, if eelgrass isn’t abundant and healthy, neither are the species that depend on it, making it a clear indicator of Puget Sound health and recovery.
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EAR TO THE GROUND WITH DNR & COMMISSIONER FRANZ 