December 19, 2024

City of Redmond

Redmond City Council President Vanessa Kritzer was elected to serve as chair of the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed Salmon Recovery Council, a partnership working to protect and restore salmon habitat in the region. The watershed is also referred to as Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 8 and covers an area of Puget Sound near the shore and inland from the north end of Elliott Bay to South Everett and east to the Bear Creek basin, the Issaquah Creek basin, and the upper Cedar River basin. The WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council is composed of elected representatives from 29 local governments in the WRIA 8 watershed, plus partners and representatives from community organizations, business, environmental interests, and state and federal agencies. The council oversees the implementation of the science-based Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan, a response to the listing of Puget Sound Chinook as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The watershed is home to multiple species of salmon, including Chinook, coho, and sockeye, as well as kokanee, a small red landlocked species native to Lake Sammamish. Recovery efforts seek to restore salmon runs to levels that would consistently support sustainable runs for tribal and recreational fishing year-to-year. Kritzer has served on the WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council for the past four years. She also represents Redmond on the Management Committee governing work to support kokanee salmon in Lake Sammamish, and most recently served as chair of the King Conservation District Advisory Committee.