Water Quality Program

In the past 150 plus years, salmon populations on the Olympic Peninsula and the rest of the Western US have been plummeting due to a number of human impacts. Over the duration of many years natural resource extraction has led to high levels of sediment in our rivers and streams. Sediment and increasing water temperatures is the main non-point source pollutant in the Makah reservation. The Makah Water Quality Monitoring program was created in order to focus on the protection and restoration of salmon habitat. Protection of healthy spawning and rearing habitat and restoration of areas that have been degraded will ensure future healthy runs of salmon for many generations of Makah to come.