Snohomish County will host an open house from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 30, to discuss its proposal to restore about 400 acres of tidal marshlands on Smith Island in the Snohomish River estuary northeast of Everett.

Estuarine tidal marshlands are critical habitat for threatened Chinook salmon and bull trout in the Snohomish River basin, and this project will assist the county in meeting its federal requirements for protecting these species.

The proposed restoration project involves constructing a new setback dike on the northeast portion of Smith Island while breaching the existing, century old dike along Union Slough. This will allow daily tidal flows and seasonal river flooding to resume within the project area while helping provide flood relief for upstream farmland.

Three alternative alignments for the new dike are under review and will be on display for public comment during the open house. Most of the proposed project site consists of county-owned land. The open house will be held in the First Floor Meeting Room of the Robert J. Drewel Building on the countys main campus at 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. A short presentation on the project will begin at 7 p.m. followed by an opportunity to visit various project display stations and to speak individually with county staff.

For more information on the project, contact Craig Garric at 425-388-3464 or Craig.Garric@snoco.org.