Lunch & Learn | Understanding Current and Future Skagit Flood Risk

This presentation will focus on a recently completed project led by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to develop a new hydraulic model to better understand current and future flood risk. Learn about how Skagit hydrology and climate change affect future flood risk.  Explore maps and animation products that illustrate flood risk.  Please visit our project website to learn more.

About the Presenters

Dr. Guillaume Mauger is the Washington State Climatologist and a research scientist at the UW Climate Impacts Group. Specializing in Climate Science, Guillaume works closely with communities across the Northwest to facilitate access to relevant climate science, grow the region’s capacity to use climate information and engage in collaborative user-driven climate research. Guillaume has a PhD in Climate Science from Scripps.

Carol MacIlroy is an independent natural resources management consultant who supports Skagit Climate Science Consortium as one of her clients. She is a strategic and analytical thinker who has worked across Washington State in support of governments, communities and organizations who are working collaboratively towards solutions to complex issues like flood risk reduction, salmon recovery, agricultural viability, floodplain development and reduction of the impacts from climate change. Carol has a Bachelor of Science degree from Willamette University.

Other Contributors

Nora Kammer is the director of the habitat protection program at the Skagit System Cooperative, and has worked for the tribal consortium for 19 years in habitat protection and restoration. In her role with SRSC, she works to ensure regulations and codes, as well as specific project proposals, reduce or avoid impacts to treaty-reserved fisheries resources. She has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s Degree in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Washington. She is a project partner on the Skagit Flood Risk and New Modeling Capabilities project.

Heather Spore has spent the last 15 years working in fisheries and natural resources, evaluating impacts of shoreline development in Alaska and Washington. She has extensive expertise in fisheries biology, environmental permitting and ESA compliance, and science education. In her role at Swinomish, she advocates for state, federal, and local environmental policies that protect, restore, and enhance marine and riverine habitats for tribal treaty-reserved natural resources. Heather holds a Masters degree in Zoology/Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Hawaii Manoa. She is the project lead for the Current and Future Skagit Flood Risk and New Modeling Capabilities project.

Kristin Kramer and Vaughn Collins from Northwest Hydraulic Consultants completed the hydraulic modeling.