Al Schmauder organizes volunteer efforts to repair the fish ladder annually. Call him if you would like to help, 253-202-2486. He is past president of the Chamber/Clover Creek Watershed Council, and is the Water Steward for the Chambers-Clover Watershed
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You’re Invited….
- When: Wednesday, August 20th at 3pm
- Where: Chambers Creek Dam Sitein Steilacoom
August Field Trip for Watershed Council
Join the Chambers Clover Watershed Council to learn about the Chambers Bay Estuary Restoration project’s efforts to remove the Chambers Creek dam.
The dam is an active fish passage barrier. The ladder is opened in the fall and through the winter for salmon runs. Then in July the fish ladder is closed for the rest of summer for salmon runs that uses the WDFW fish ladder on the west side of the dam.
The WDFW ladder is used to capture salmon so that eggs can be removed for the state fisheries hatchery program. According to the WDFW Escapement Report, as of October 2024, showed 1,039 total fish swam up the fish ladder.
The 100-year-old dam is a major fish blockage for returning salmon and juvenile salmon on their way to Puget Sound. From July through September, WDFW closes the fish ladder in order to catch all the Chinook salmon so they won’t spawn in Chambers Creek, where they would likely interfere with hatchery fish.
Getting the funding to remove the dam began in 2000. Pierce County Surface Water Management has been aggressively removing barriers to fish throughout the county.
The Chambers Creek Estuary is the largest coastal embayment along 40 miles of eastern shoreline of Puget Sound between the Nisqually and Puyallup Rivers. The Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy initiated the removal and restoration of the estuary. Since then, Al Schmauder has worked with each County Executive, county engineers, and the Tribes, in order to find funding to remove the Chambers Creek Dam.
After the November 2025 election, Ryan Mello, the new County Executive committed to dam removal grew after having the momentum stalled for 14 years. Previous dam removal proposals had been delayed until funding would allow a new upstream bridge to be constructed first.
The costs of dam removal, bridge replacement and estuary improvements are estimated to exceed $50 million. The timeline to start construction is 2028/2029.
When the dam is removed, the silt behind the dam will substantially modify the estuary and return the area into a more natural bay where young salmon can adjust to salt water conditions. With the dam removed fish ladders removed, Chambers Creek will restore roughly 180 acres of estuary habitat. This project will open approximately five and a half miles of fish habitat to five species of salmon.
“As part of the tour, we are also coordinating a project update on the nearby housing development of the Cove at Chambers Bay,” said Al Schmauder. This housing development will daylight Garrison Creek, which is an important clean water source for salmon using the restored estuary.
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