IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 471 

Recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, in 

Ballard, Washington. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2017 

Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

LARSEN of Washington, Mr. HECK, and Mr. KILMER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Hiram M. 

Chittenden Locks, in Ballard, Washington. 

Whereas 2017 is the 100-year anniversary of the completion 

of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, known locally as the 

Ballard Locks, in Ballard, Washington; 

Whereas the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and the Lake 

Washington Ship Canal were completed on July 4, 1917, 

but were first proposed more than a half century earlier, 

when the city of Seattle was only 3 years old; 

Whereas the Locks and canal were conceived to support timber and other heavy industry activity in the area; 

Whereas the Navy also supported the Locks because it would 

create a strategic moorage for military vessels; 


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•HRES 471 IH 

Whereas the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks are the busiest in 

the Nation in overall vessel traffic, with more than 

40,000 transits annually, and the 12th busiest in use by 

commercial traffic, with 7,500 commercial transits each 

year; 

Whereas more than 1 million tons of freight move through 

the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Hiram M. 

Chittenden Locks each year; 

Whereas fishing vessels that use the Locks on a regular basis 

are responsible for an estimated $545 million in revenues 

in fisheries from Oregon to the North Pacific; 

Whereas 25 percent of all maritime industrial support activity in Puget Sound is connected to Alaska, accounting for 

5,300 jobs and $390 million in annual wages for the sector; 

Whereas commercial fishing fleets depend on the Locks for 

access to centralized goods and services; 

Whereas the Locks welcome more than 1.25 million site visitors, including 150,000 tourists, school children, and 

other passengers who book cruises through the Locks annually; 

Whereas, as a visitor attraction, the Locks generate approximately $40 million in spending impacts each year; 

Whereas the construction of the Locks altered the Lake 

Washington system, eliminating fish habitat and native 

fisheries, including those on the Black River, which was 

the natural outlet of Lake Washington until it was permanently dewatered by the Locks; 

Whereas ensuring adequate fish passage through the Hiram 

M. Chittenden Locks is a key to meeting Federal trust 

responsibilities under treaties between the United States 


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Government and federally recognized Tribes, including 

the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe; 

Whereas the Muckleshoot Tribe partners with the United 

States Army Corps of Engineers to study salmon runs, 

water quality, and other factors that affect Tribal activities under treaty protection; 

Whereas the Locks’ fish ladder is the only ingress and egress 

point for migrating salmon that spawn in the Lake 

Washington, Cedar, and Sammamish watershed; 

Whereas both Tribes conduct subsistence and commercial 

fishing activities, which depend on fish which migrate 

through the Locks; 

Whereas all salmon in the 692-square-mile watershed must 

travel through the Locks twice in their lives; and 

Whereas although the Locks have attracted $125 million in 

Federal, State, and local funding for habitat protection 

and restoration projects initiated since 1998 in the watershed, significant fish passage problems persist and there 

is a need to continue to invest in improved fish passage: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 

3 Hiram M. Chittenden Locks; 

4 (2) commends the Army Corps of Engineers for 

5 its 100-year stewardship of the Hiram M. 

6 Chittenden Locks; 

7 (3) recognizes the significant contribution of 

8 the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks to the national mar9 itime economy; and 


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1 (4) recognizes the need for Federal investments 

2 in modernizing the Locks and continuing to educate 

3 the community about its history and the preserva4 tion of natural resources. 

Æ 


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