Topic: Flooding, Hazards | Region: Western Washington

Understanding Current and Future Skagit Flood Risk

Skagit River flooding
  • Heather Spore, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
  • Nora Kammer, Skagit River System Cooperative
  • Bridget Moran, Skagit River System Cooperative
  • Kate Ramsden, Skagit River System Cooperative
  • Alan Hamlet , University of Notre Dame
  • Steve Moddemeyer, Consultant to Skagit Climate Science Consortium
  • Carol Macilroy, Consultant to Skagit Climate Science Consortium
  • Kristin Kramer , Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC)
  • Vaughn Collins, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC)
  • Active

Skagit County faces an escalating threat from riverine and coastal flooding. Led by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC), this project was designed to build upon existing data and flood modeling efforts to create an updated, climate-informed model of flooding in the Skagit watershed in order to foster a shared understanding of flood risks.

Skagit Floodplain

Project Background

Key goals of this project include:

Developing a Modernized Hydraulic Model: Creating an accessible, high-resolution hydraulic model covering the Skagit and Samish river deltas upstream to Marblemount. This model incorporates the latest data on river and coastal flooding, dike failures, and future climate projections.

Building Shared Understanding: Engaging tribal, local, and state governments, as well as the agricultural and environmental sectors, to raise awareness about current and future flood risks, describe the model and modeling results, and gather feedback on the approach and outputs.

Visualizing Results: Providing clear, visual representations of flood depths, extents, velocities and durations to help the public and officials anticipate risks.
A vehicle is submerged with Skykomish River floodwater

The Approach

This project was led by a multidisciplinary team with deep roots in the Skagit basin

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC): Project lead and funding recipient.

Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC): Technical expertise in river processes and fisheries.

Skagit Climate Science Consortium (SC2): A non-profit group of scientists providing locally-relevant research to support climate adaptation.

Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC): Leading the technical development of the hydraulic model.

Skagit River, near Concrete

Related Studies and Resources

Projects from the Climate Impacts Group
Heavy PrecipitationKing County RiversFact Sheets for Flood Risk ManagersFloodplain Management in Whatcom and Snohomish Counties