01.23.24

Shoalwater Bay Tribe Secures $1.2M to Relocate Vulnerable Coastal Facilities to Higher Ground

Cantwell: “Sea-level rise is causing the Shoalwater Bay Tribe’s low-lying land to disappear.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced that the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe located on the Pacific Coast in Southwest Washington has received a $1.2 million grant from the Department of Commerce (DOC) to relocate vital tribal facilities to higher ground to mitigate the threat posed by rising sea levels or a potential tsunami.

“Located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, sea-level rise is causing the Shoalwater Bay Tribe’s low-lying land to disappear. This investment in the Tribe’s Master Relocation Plan brings the Shoalwater Bay community one-step closer to moving their vital community facilities out of harm’s way and up to higher ground," Sen. Cantwell said.

Located at sea-level, steps away from the Pacific Ocean, the Tribe’s community is vulnerable to the effects of sea rise, storm surges, and potential tsunamis. The Tribe has made substantial investments in purchasing land and developing a master plan to relocate their community to higher ground.

This project is funded by the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023, which provided the DOC’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) with $483 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance Program funds for disaster relief and recovery for areas that received a major disaster declaration as a result of hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters.

Sen. Cantwell serves as a steadfast advocate for the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, and has helped the Tribe obtain crucial funding to make its facilities more resilient in a changing climate. In August 2022, the tribe celebrated the completion of the first tsunami vertical evacuation tower in North America. Sen. Cantwell met with the Tribe that month to discuss the upland village relocation road project, and visited the tower. Photos available for use HERE.

In June, Sen. Cantwell helped secure $24.98 million for the Upland Village Relocation Road Project through her Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program. Sen. Cantwell advocated for the project in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Sen. Cantwell had previously advocated for the project in an additional letter to Secretary Buttigieg in 2021.

Sen. Cantwell also advocated for the Shoalwater Tribe to receive EDA funds under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. In a letter to Laura Ives, the EDA’s Economic Development Representative for Washington State, Sen. Cantwell urged the agency to provide funds to build an ingress route that would help the Tribe begin the process of moving its vital services out of vulnerable low-lying areas.