Estimating Socioeconomic Benefits from a Multiple Benefits Project: The Fisher Slough Case Study

The Fisher Slough Freshwater Tidal Marsh Restoration project, located in the Skagit River Delta, was designed to improve habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon as well as provide benefits to the Skagit agricultural community in the form of improvements to drainage, irrigation and flood protection infrastructure. This was the first estuary restoration project completed on private lands in the Skagit Delta. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) collaborated with local diking and drainage district partners to establish and ensure that the project met its common, and equal goals of; 1) Create tidal rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon; 2) Improve passage for coho and chum spawning access; 3) Increase flood storage to protect agriculture and; 4) Create a diversity of native habitats. TNC, and NOAA worked with ECONorthwest to conduct a socioeconomic study of the project to estimate the non-fish benefits that would be derived from the project. In addition to providing improved passage to 15 miles of stream and restoring 60 acres of freshwater marsh habitat, the $7.7 M project is estimated to provide $9-$21 M in benefits to the community over the next several decades. These benefits were derived from both green and grey infrastructure elements of the project. Fisher Slough was also found to create trust between sectors of the agricultural and restoration communities and build Social Capital. This presentation will provide an overview of the project, a discussion of the socioeconomic benefits as well as some of the ecological benefits as time allows, while also discussing how these results and the trust generated between parties is being leveraged to create future multiple-benefit projects in the Skagit