Up a creek: $5B culvert removal plan appears dead in WA Legislature
A creative plan in the Washington Legislature to raise billions of dollars to pay for the court-ordered removal of fish passage barriers appears to be a pipe dream, for this year at least.
With just over a week until the scheduled end of the legislative session, the state Senate’s bipartisan proposal to borrow up to $5 billion to eliminate culverts faces, well, barriers on several fronts.
Cities and counties fear missing out on state dollars for water, sewer and other projects that would be diverted to repay the culvert-removal bonds.
And the governor’s office says the plan is coming at a bad time, given broad economic uncertainty.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/19/up-a-creek-5b-culvert-removal-plan-appears-dead-in-wa-legislature/