Skagit Watershed
- Admiralty Inlet
- Chehalis River Basin
- Comox Coast
- Discovery Islands
- East Sound
- Fraser Lowlands
- Gulf Islands
- Hood Canal
- Qualicum Coast
- San Juan Islands
- South Puget Sound
- South Vancouver Island
- Strait of Juan de Fuca
- Sunshine Coast
- West Sound
- Whidbey Basin
- Salish Sea References
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The Skagit Watershed is the largest basin on the Southern Salish Sea encompassing around 1.7 million acres or 3000 square miles, and is the third largest river on the west coast of the USA. Major tributaries include the Sauk-Suiattle River, Cascade River, and Baker River watersheds. The Skagit Delta is among the largest River Deltas in Puget Sound and is a regional center for Agriculture. The City of Mount Vernon is the dominant market town. To the north, The Samish Watershed is contiguous with the Skagit Estuary and is similar culturally and economically, and beyond that you cross the Chuckanut Massif into the Nooksack River basin and the greater Fraser Lowlands. There is also an easy road north into the South Fork Nooksack Floodplain. To the South is the Stillaguamish River and the Stillaguamish Delta is also contiguous, such that the Samish-Skagit-Stillaguamish estuaries have been considered by some as a single massive geomorphic entity. To the east, the Skagit extends up to the Cascade Crest, with the North Cascades Highway crossing into the Methow Valley. The Skagit Agricultural economy is the largest in Western Washington with a globally significant seed production system, as well as dairies, vegetables and small fruits, and is famous for flower bulb production. The Swinomish Tribe has a reservation in the estuary, the Upper Skagit Tribe is upstream on the mainstem, and the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe is located further upstream in the valley of the same name--all three are Northern Lushootseed speaking people. The Skagit has relatively intact and abundant Salmon populations compared to other Southern Salish Sea rivers, and has sometimes been referred to as the "salmon stronghold" of Puget Sound. River Delta Restoration has been a focus of Salmon Recovery and contact between salmon recovery and agricultural preservation has resulted in social conflict. Strong advocacy groups like Western Washington Agricultural Association and Skagitonians To Preserve Farmland as well as a number of Diking and Drainage Districts have a strong political voice. Skagit County has fully developed its Conservation Futures authority for the protection of farmland.
Notes
- The relicensing of dams owned by Seattle City Light is a major issue.
- Negotiation between.
Skagit Workgroups and Efforts
The following Workgroups and Efforts are associated with Skagit.
Workgroups
Effort
Skagit Products
The following Product pages are categorized with Skagit.