U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-6th District, on Monday visited the city of Hoquiam’s West Fork Hoquiam River dam to talk with officials about future funding for an $8 million project that would tear down the dam and transition part of the city’s water supply to a more reliable source.

During the visit, Kilmer reiterated his support for the project, acknowledging benefits to salmon and potential to stir economic development.

“We’ve tried to focus on projects that create economic opportunity and projects that address a threat, in this case an environmental threat and a public health threat,” Kilmer said.

Removing the dam would eliminate the second-worst fish passage barrier in the entire Chehalis Basin, according to a ranked list from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and open 13 miles of upstream spawning habitat for migratory salmon and steelhead.

In March, Kilmer submitted a $4 million funding request to Congress as part of his community project funding list for fiscal year 2024. So far, the House Appropriations Committee has approved $500,000 toward dam removal as legislation containing the project continues to move through congress.

Community project funding allows legislators to earmark money for specific projects. Since that ability was reinstated by Congress a few years ago, Kilmer’s office has had a high success rate in securing funding after forming a stakeholder committee of economic development leads, tribal representatives and business development agencies from across the Olympic Peninsula to consult on project proposals, he said. Representatives can request funding for up to 15 projects in their respective districts each fiscal year.

According to Hoquiam City Administrator Brian Shay, state and federal funding sources will be necessary to complete the project.

“Anything the federal government can cover the cost of that doesn’t have to come out of the pockets of folks here, that’s a win,” Kilmer said.

In December, the city received a $1.2 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for initial planning, permitting and feasibility studies. The grant will also pay for exploratory drilling to determine if an aquifer near the city’s water treatment plant can replace the drinking water source that the dam provides.

The West Fork dam, which was built in 1956, supplies about 10% of the city’s drinking water by diverting it across U.S. Highway 101 to the city’s water treatment plant. The delivery system’s proximity to the highway poses a water quality risk, Shay said, while an increasing pattern of low streamflows make surface water less reliable.

Shortly before Kilmer arrived at the dam Monday, James Kruger, water treatment plant operator for the city, said river levels were so low just a few days earlier that water had barely trickled over the head of the dam. Recent rains swelled the stream and kicked up sediment that caused filtration problems at the treatment plant.

Officials are hopeful the new wells can supplant the West Fork dam — when the city first eyed dam removal 10 years ago, test wells in the same area drew water to the surface.

The remainder of the city’s water will continue to flow from another diversion dam on Davis Creek, just north of the treatment plant (the dam is also ranked highly on the state’s list of harmful fish barriers).

The project’s economic upside lies in improved fisheries and supporting local business growth, according to a press release from Rep. Kilmer’s office. The new water source “could create up to 1,000 full-time jobs over the next decade by attracting new industry to the region’s three vacant industrial sites, covering more than 300 acres.”

Shay said he hopes the project will be shovel-ready and fully funded within three years. He said the city plans to apply for a Streamflow Restoration Grant through the Washington Department of Ecology, while U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell also pins the project to her funding list.

“Between the two of us, hopefully we will be successful,” Kilmer said.

Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.