Lower Skagit Watershed
This section is for reference only. The sign-up period for this watershed has closed.

The total estimated area in the watershed is 284,283 acres.  The watershed is located in Skagit and Snohomish counties in Northwest Washington.  The watershed begins at the town of Concrete and extends to Skagit Bay.

Approximately 50% of the Lower Skagit consists of floodplains and terraces.  Western red cedar forest, western hemlock forest, and both riparian and wetland habitat have been transformed into pastures, cropland, rural residential, and urban centers. 

The Skagit Valley floodplain has soils and climatic conditions that make it one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world.  The floodplain has been extensively diked and drained.  Soil textures are loamy, making them ideal for cultivation.  In many areas a water table close to the surface provides subirrigation for summer crops.  The combination of long, warm summers and cool nights are ideal for certain crops, particularly seed crops.  More tulip, daffodil, and iris bulbs are produced in this area than in any other place in the United States.  About 75% of the total commercial U.S. production of tulips is grown in the Skagit Valley.

The other half of the watershed is composed of low mountains, broad glaciated valleys, and glacial-fed rivers that receive 60 to 90 inches of annual precipitation.  Extensive, productive rainforests have developed under the mild maritime climate and are dominated by western hemlock, Douglas-fir, and western red cedar.  The greatest land area is forestland at 71%, with rural residential development, recreation, and valley grazing also occurring.