Nineteenth District state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said the state’s court-mandated project to remove fish barriers is “out of control,” after the latest estimates show the total project will cost four times as much as the original estimate.
During a Dec. 4 House Transportation Committee briefing, a representative from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said the project will now cost up to $7.8 billion after initial projections showed an estimated cost of $1.7 billion.
"In response, Republicans in the Legislature, collaborating with our Democrat colleagues, created a funding plan for the project that would have completed it by now. Unfortunately, the Legislature did not act promptly; instead, the majority party delayed it for several more years,” Walsh said in a statement Monday. “By the time a plan was approved, the price had escalated to nearly $3.5 billion, doubling the original estimate.”
The mandated removal of the barriers, known as culverts, is required to enhance fish passage in the state. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the state is responsible for the removal of culverts that obstruct fish migration and that infringe on tribal treaty rights to fishing.
"Now, as the current version of the project has finally started, WSDOT informs the Legislature that the cost has increased by an additional $3.5 to $4 billion, resulting in a total project cost four times the original estimate,” Walsh said in the statement.
According to previous reporting by The Chronicle, more than 19,000 barriers are spread across the state.
"This culvert project has grown out of control. It serves as yet another regrettable example of bumbling bureaucratic mismanagement. Why does this happen? Poor oversight, insufficient project supervision, enabled by decades of one-party control in Washington state government,” Walsh said. “Of course, the cost of this failure is paid by Washington's working people and families in higher gas and diesel prices, higher grocery prices, and higher rents and mortgage payments. We owe it to everyone in Washington to manage state projects with more competence and less failure."
The Washington Legislature will convene the 2024 session on Jan. 8.
